If I Can't Have You
by mayghaen17
Summary: Part 3. Elena and Damon return to Mystic Falls a year later for Jeremy's graduation only to find that something older and much more powerful has returned as well...
1. Chapter 1

**a/n: Not sure if I like the title so any suggestions as I write more would be great :) I NEVER have finished any stories before so having two complete ones and working on a third is quite the accomplishment for me. I would like to thank all of my readers and reviewers for making me complete them ever so quickly :) Enjoy!**

ONE

We stood outside of a run down pub in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of Dublin. I pulled my jacked tighter around my shoulders and just looked at Damon as though he were crazy. "Vampire bar? What the hell does that mean?" I asked. The images of humans parading around the bar for vampires to bite at their leisure made me shudder.

He grinned and shook his head at my reaction. "The humans are very unaware that we're real vampires. It's a fetish thing. You need to feed and the people in here will give it willingly and keep their mouths shut."

I crossed my arms and tapped my foot. "I am not going in there."

"It's not like you can catch anything from them. Diseases don't affect us."

My brow shot up even higher. "I'm not exactly a normal vampire and I really don't feel like experimenting."

He put his hands on my biceps and looked down at me. He sighed, knowing I was right. "Alright, alright. There's a friend inside who I'd like you to meet. I'll introduce you to him and then we'll go. Sound good?"

"Don't have much of choice do I?"

"Not really," he said and grinned before kissing me lightly. "Come on," he said as he laced his fingers with mine and led me inside. I couldn't picture the people that Damon hanging out with as nice vampires and I had to remind myself that I wasn't human and I was stronger than the average vampire.

The inside of the bar was nowhere near as bad as I had pictured and it did not match the front at all. It was an upscale bar on the inside with black and red decor with dim lighting to set the mood. It was pretty packed with people; all of which were wearing different versions of the same outfit consisting of black leather. And the motto seemed to be less is more. I moved closer to Damon as I followed him through the crowd and silently wished I had stayed at the hotel. There were people wearing white costume make-up with fake blood coming from the corners of their lips and fake fangs in their mouths. _If only they knew_, I thought to myself and then jumped when I bumped into someone and spilled their drink. "I'm sorry!" I said and tried to stop, but Damon kept pulling me along.

We stopped at the bar and waved to the male bartender who headed out way. "Sebastian, this is Elena. Elena, this is my friend Sebastian."

He nodded to me, his black hair falling into his eyes momentarily and then looked at Damon. "What are you doing here? You know Carina banned you from coming back here after you and your brother caused that little fight last time."

He smiled apologetically and put an arm around my shoulders. "She's not here is she?"

"No, but-"

"Then don't tell her I was here. We were in the neighborhood and I wanted you to meet Elena."

Sebastian looked my way again and had that look in his eyes as if he were trying to remember why I looked so familiar. I didn't need to be able to read minds to know the answer to that. I cleared my throat. "Bathroom?"

"Head straight back and it's to the left," Damon answered and I detached myself from him and started walking through the crowd.

There were people left and right swaying to the beat of the music and from what I was seeing, it was clear that some were doing a little more than that. There was a little hallway that led to the bathrooms and I could smell blood even before I got there. When I rounded the corner there was a couple shoved up against one of the walls and the man had his lips against her throat. I got another wave of blood scented air and my fangs began to lengthen as I realized how hungry I was. I darted into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. Sure enough, the blue and red veins were around my eyes which were darkened in bloodlust. I gripped the edge of the sink hard enough that I thought I heard it break. It had been a year since we left Mystic Falls and I was still adjusting to dealing with the hunger pangs and control issues. If I had drank from the blood bags in the hotel, I would have been fine. I sighed heavily and felt my fangs retract and watch my face turn back to normal. I used the facility and washed my hands before braving to open the door again. The couple was gone and I let out a breath of relief before going through the crowd to find Damon.

I stopped as I felt someone watching me and when I turned around, there was a man that was very familiar in my line of view. He had his arms in front of him, crossed at the wrist and his head was tilted to the side. "Katherine," he said and I straightened up. I went for him but was cut off by the crowd. When I got another clear view, he was gone.

I took a few deep breaths and used my speed to get to Damon who was still chatting to Sebastian. "Find it okay?" Sebastian asked.

I nodded. "Damon, can we go now?"

He looked at me and saw the worry in my eyes. "It was nice to see you again," he said to Sebastian as he finished his drink and put the empty glass on the bar.

"You too. Nice to meet you Elena," he returned as we headed away from the bar. The way he said my name told me he still wasn't convinced I wasn't Katherine.

"What happened?" he asked the minute we were outside.

"On my way back to you there was a man. He was watching me and when I turned around, he called me Katherine."

He had his eyes narrowed at me, waiting for me to say more. "And?"

I shook my head, my eyes closed trying to picture his face. "He looked so familiar," I breathed, mostly to myself. "It doesn't matter, I was probably seeing things. Let's go," I said and went back to the car. "How do you know Sebastian?" I asked, most of my curiosity directed towards why he and Stefan had been fighting and why they were thrown out.

"Carina was one of the first girls I turned," he said tightly. "In the twenties I found out she was here and came to check out the bar. I didn't know Stefan was in the area and it was the first time I had seen him since Mystic Falls."

"Ah, testosterone at its best," I said quietly and he smirked.

"We fought-"

"Naturally," I interrupted as I looked out the window.

"And someone died in the process. Little did I know it was Carina's boyfriend, one that she was planning on ending things with. Since he turned into a vampire, that made it a little difficult for her. That's why she banned me."

"I thought you didn't have to stay with someone just because you turned them. Obviously," I said with a sly smile.

"Right, but I'm assuming she had her reasons for keeping him around."

"I thought you said he was a friend of yours."

"I'd met him as a human before I found out about Carina. That's how I found the bar. It was a little less eccentric back then."

I nodded, but said nothing else as we drove back to the hotel and the minute we stepped inside, I drained two bags and felt a little better. He sat on the bed as he watched me get undressed for the night. "When should we go back?"

"Go back where?"

"Mystic Falls," I said as I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it to the floor. "Jeremy's graduating in two weeks and I promised him I would be there. Everyone will be back and it would be nice to see some familiar faces."

Before I could pull on my nightshirt, he pulled me over top of him and smoothed back my hair. "It's only going to get harder if we go back again."

"Just for graduation. Then we can leave. He's my brother," I said and planted a featherlight kiss on his nose. "You wouldn't want to make me a liar would you?" I asked as I started to grin slowly.

"You keep this up and I'm not so sure either of us is going anywhere," he returned and in a matter of seconds I was beneath him and his mouth came crashing down on top of mine.

* * *

I paced back and forth, waiting for something. The wind was whipping at my hair and the skirt of the dress I was wearing kept blowing upwards. I gave a groan of frustration and turned around one last time only to see a very tall blonde man watching me from edges of the clearing. "You know how I feel about people being late," I said even though it wasn't my voice that came out.

I looked down and sure enough, I was reliving Katherine's past. I moved towards the man, my movements feeling less forced than last time. "Roarke tells me you have had your child."

"Yes."

"Does he know you've made contact with me?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. "Roarke is the child's father, nothing more. He was useful while it lasted, but I don't need him anymore."

The man's eyes glimmered with something I couldn't read. "To become a vampire means eternity."

I stared at him and then smiled. "I know that."

"Tell me why you would choose such a thing."

"I want to see the world. I want to live forever."

"Those are typical answers Katherine. That's not enough."

I tipped my head to the side and smiled even wider. "Roarke said you were cruel and bloodthirsty. I'm offering you a companion who is just as bloodthirsty. I want to see people die by my hands and I want the world to worship me." I took a step towards him. "We could rule the world together."

The corners of his mouth twitched. "Forever is a long time."

"Yes I know that!" Katherine spat. "I am tired of having people tell me what I want. I am choosing this life because I want it. If you won't help me then I will find someone else who is not afraid."

He grabbed my throat and Katherine only smiled despite the sharp pain that I could feel from his nails in my skin. His eyes had gone dark and the red and blue veins had streaked his skin. "I am not afraid to turn you," he snarled, his fangs sliding out from their sheath. "I am an Original. Do you know what that means?" he asked as he let go of my throat.

"That you have been around for all time and all that boring stuff. Klaus, I _want_ this. I want an eternity."

He bowed his head and before I could take a breath, he had his fangs in my throat and in a matter of minutes, the blood swap had taken place. He put his hands on my cheek and snapped my neck. Everything went black, but only for a few moments. I sat up alone in the clearing and looked around. Unlike when I had been turned, Katherine knew exactly what was going on and got to her feet. "Katherine?" came a voice from the side and she turned to see a man in the shadows. "How could you?"

"I told you I wanted this," I snapped and advanced on him.

"We have a child. A daughter. Katherine-"

He stopped as I pounced and clamped my mouth around his throat and the second his blood touched my tongue, I felt a satisfaction I had never experienced before. I felt the essence of his life fading and Katherine pulled away to look down at his hazel eyes that were showing how hurt and betrayed he felt. She gave him her blood now that she was a complete vampire and walked away. "You can raise our child. You're the one that wanted it," she called over her shoulder.

* * *

I sat up in bed trying to catch my breath. Roarke's hazel eyes was all I could see as I shook Damon awake. "What?" he asked as he moved his arm that was draped across my stomach.

"The man at the bar. His name is Roarke."

He rubbed his face against my shoulder before he looked at me. "Why should I care?"

"Roarke was the warlock who got Katherine pregnant," I said flatly and he bolted into a sitting position. "Exactly."


	2. Chapter 2

TWO

John met us at the airport and when I saw him I hesitated. I wasn't sure if I should hug him like a normal daughter or just shake his hand like friend he hadn't seen in a year. I settled on something in between and gave a half hug. He only nodded at Damon before we went to baggage claim to get our stuff. If we hadn't been living at hotels, we would have left most of our things there. "I hate flying," I said as we waited for our things.

"Yes, well, we may be able to run incredibly fast, but we still can't walk on water."

I looked at Damon and nudged him lightly. "Have you ever tried?"

"By all means, be my guest," he teased before putting an arm around my shoulder.

"How are you?" I asked John.

He shrugged, "Things haven't changed much around here."

"Seeing anyone?" I asked and then immediately felt awkward.

"No," he said with a light smile. He was having trouble thinking of things to say to me as well and I couldn't wait until we were back at the boarding house. "As you requested, Jenna doesn't know you're here yet."

"Anyone else know?"

He shook his head. "Alaric is making dinner tonight at the house. We'll go there first so you can see everyone." He paused and I waited for him to continue. "How is the...uh...mind reading?"

I smiled at the way his voice became too low for human ears. "It's fine. I still have weak moments here and there, but for the most part it's under control."

"She doesn't know the full extent though," Damon said as he grabbed my bag from the carousel.

I shook my head in agreement. "I don't think we should talk about this here," I said as I looked around, beginning to feel tidbits of thoughts flowing through my head.

Both men nodded and we didn't say a word until we were in John's car and driving away from the Richmond airport. "Where did you guys go?" he asked and I felt a little guilty having only kept in touch with Bonnie, Jenna, and Jeremy.

"Paris, Rome, Dublin, Moscow..." I said listing off the major cities we had been to. Out of all of them, Dublin had been the shortest and I was glad for it.

"That's it? Gone for a year and that's the only places you go to?" he asked, throwing a teasing look at me in the passenger seat.

"Well, we stayed there for a good four months at a time. Besides, you get to experience each city from unusual places because 'off limits' spots don't apply to vampires," I said with a smirk. "Oh, is Bonnie going to be there tonight?"

He shook his head. "Just us, Jeremy, Anna, Pearl, Alaric, Jenna, and Harper."

Damon laughed as he lounged in the backseat. "So everyone else will be there."

The rest of the ride was filled with nothing but the radio and I couldn't help but wonder if Stefan was still in town. Last I had heard was that he left shortly after we did, but I had my doubts. We pulled up the house about an hour and a half later and I was feeling restless. I got out and stretched, smiling as Damon did the same. We left our things in the car and headed up the steps to the door. I stepped inside and felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me at the feeling of being home. The bowl Jenna was holding when she saw me fell from her hands and would have shattered if Harper hadn't caught it. "Elena!" Jenna cried and before I could say hello, she was hugging me tightly.

"Hi," I said as she pulled back.

"You didn't tell me that you were coming," she said as she moved her hands over me, checking to see if I was real. "And you," she said, whipping around to see John. "You are a horrible person for not telling me."

She pulled me into another hug and I watched John smile before walking into the kitchen. "Surprise," I said lightly and she laughed. I had missed her terribly and as I hugged her back, I tried not to squeeze too tightly.

She let go and stunned me as she hugged Damon almost as hard as she had hugged me. He looked very surprised and it took a moment before he put his arms around her as well. "Told you she loves me," he said to me with a smirk.

She laughed as she pulled back and tapped him lightly on the chest. "You must be hungry," she said and then stopped. "Sorry."

"We know what you meant," I said and grasped her shoulder. "It smells wonderful."

Jenna looked up the stairs and yelled for Jeremy before returning to the kitchen. I crossed my arms and waited for him to come down. He and Anna were straightening their clothes as they got to the top of the stairs and they both stopped at the sight of Damon and I. "Elena?" he said in disbelief.

I smiled widely at the fact that they had been too engrossed in each other to notice our presence or Jenna's outburst. He bolted down the stairs and gathered me into his arms. From the force of it I could tell he was having a regular dose of Anna's blood, but he was still human. "I told you I would be back for graduation."

"I know, I just- I'm glad you're back," he said as he pulled away.

"Hi Anna," I said and waved a little in her direction.

"Hi," she replied and returned my wave, giving Damon a light nod before we all walked to the dining room and set up.

"It's good to see you," Alaric said before he sat down, and it warmed my heart when I realized he was talking to both of us and not just me.

Dinner was mostly centered on the adventures Damon and I had been on this past year. Jenna was more interested in pictures than my descriptions and I promised her I would get the camera after dinner. "I hope everyone's still got room. I made dessert," Jenna said as she and Alaric cleared the table. Everyone exchanged worried glances before a uniformed mumble rose from the table. "Oh whatever," Jenna added as she carried things to the kitchen, smiling as she did so.

After an alright dessert, everyone broke away from the table to start new conversations. "Pearl, can I talk to you?" I asked when I caught her attention.

She followed me outside on the front porch. "What can I do for you Elena?"

She wasn't very fond of me and I was sure that was because of my resemblance to Katherine. "Does the name Roarke or Klaus mean anything to you?"

She was thoughtful for a moment and began shaking her head. "Should they?"

I shrugged. "I've been having dreams of Katherine's past and those two names are always said. I just wanted to know if she mentioned anything to you since she was your best friend."

"She never told me about her past."

I thought for a moment and then nodded, knowing I wasn't going to get any information out of her. "If you think of anything, will you tell me?"

"Of course," she said and as I moved to follow her inside, my phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered without looking.

"When do you come back?" Matt asked.

"I'm at my house right now. How did you know I was coming back?" I asked, looking around the backyard.

"For graduation. It's all Jeremy's been talking about. How long have you been back?"

"A few hours at most," I answered and smiled at the thought of Jeremy being that excited over my return and knowing he would never admit that out loud. "I was going to call everyone else tomorrow."

"I'm on my way home, I could just come to your house."

"We're going to be leaving soon," I informed him. "Why don't we have lunch tomorrow? My treat."

He laughed, "Just you and I?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, just you and I. I'll call you in the morning."

"I'm opening tomorrow and I get off at two. Why don't you just come to the Grill then?"

My eyes widened and I shook my head. "There are other places to eat you know."

"Discount," he replied and then cursed. "Well...since you-"

"Nope, Grill at two. Bye," I said and hung up before he could say anything else. I turned and went inside to find Damon right there, sitting on the steps waiting for me. "Ready?" I asked.

In the blink of an eye he was on his feet and at my side. "Yes."

"Let me say goodbye and then we can go," I said and headed back to the living room. "Aunt Jenna? Damon and I are going to go."

"So soon?"

"We'll be in town," I assured her.

"For how long?" she asked and I could only stare at her. "Alright, I'm so glad you came back," she said and hugged me again.

"Thank you for dinner," I said to Alaric before hugging Jeremy from behind. "I'll see you later." I found John coming from the downstairs bathroom and I did what I wanted to do at the airport and gave him a real hug. "Thanks for picking us up," I said and then went to Damon at the door and we got our things from the car.

Carrying our bags took our walk to the boarding house a few extra minutes, but the moment we stepped inside, we dropped everything to the ground and just looked around. I was sensing to see if Stefan was here and I knew Damon was too. The minute we knew the house was empty he closed the door by slamming my back against it. I groaned as he kissed me roughly and I jumped to wrap my legs around his waist. He carried me up the stairs, pausing along the way to kiss me against the wall. When we got to the bedroom, the door was open and he stopped to set me down. "What the fuck?" he asked.

I was angry for him stopping, but when I turned around, I saw why. His bedroom had been torn upside down and everything was in pieces scattered around the room. "Who would do something like this?"

He just looked at me. "You're really asking me that question? It's right up his alley; pathetic and very, very lame."

I rolled my eyes and moved down the hall. I shoved Stefan's door open and pointed. "I don't think he would do the same thing to his room. Maybe it was Tyler? I did tell him he could use the house when he needed to. Just in case."

He was still convinced it was Stefan as he inspected is room. He paused to sniff the air and looked puzzled. "I don't smell anything."

"That's good right?"

"No, it means someone was covering their tracks," he said and moved to shut the door.

I stopped him as I saw something floating in the room. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but things are still settling in here meaning this was done recently, right?"

He looked around one last time before cupping my face. "Unfortunately."

I groaned and stepped away from the room. "Great. Now who's after us?"

He must have seen something in the room because he went inside. I stayed where I was, still unable to go into Stefan's room without a lot of courage. He came back with the portrait of Katherine that had been missing for some time now. It had what looked like a bullet hole in the and writing in a foreign language smeared on the bottom in what my aching fangs were telling me was fresh blood. "Correction; someone is after you."


	3. Chapter 3

THREE

We had stayed up the entire night putting both rooms back together the best we could. It was around seven in the morning when we collapsed on the couch having found no blood in the freezer downstairs. We were both hungry and I knew I would have to feed before I went to see Matt. "It's not like we need to sleep," Damon argued as he watched me pace in front of the fireplace.

"I still don't see why we can't just go to a blood bank."

"While you are having lunch, I will restock the fridge. We don't have time for that right now and you know it."

I stood still and looked at him, sighing heavily as I realized he was right. And he smirked. "Fine. Where?"

He got up and extended his hand. "Now is a good time to teach you how to use your compulsion."

I hesitated before I took his hand and the next thing I knew, we were running through the woods and stopped at a small town like Mystic Falls. "Where are we?"

He shrugged, "Far enough away from Mystic Falls no one will recognize you." I shot him a look and he pulled me close. "They won't recognize _you_. They might recognize _her_."

"That is really starting to irritate me."

"The good news is you have an eternity to get over it," he said and ran ahead of me before I could smack him in a playful way.

We were still in the middle of nowhere even though it was a little more populated. It was early enough that no one was really around and there was only one or two stores marking the entrance to the town. "Now what?"

He pointed to a convenience store. "Go in there and tell the cashier that your car broke down. Either ask them to call you some help or see if they'll come take a look at it."

"And where do you think you're going?"

He inclined his head towards the woods we had just came out of. "Bring him this way and I'll show you what to do next."

I nodded and headed into the store. There was a typical Southern boy behind the counter. He had blonde hair in a crew cut and nothing but overalls on. Everything about him said ex-military and it made me hesitate for a second. Before I could back out of the store, he spotted me and smiled. "Hello Miss. What can I do for you?" he asked as he pulled on an oversized flannel shirt.

"My car broke down on my way through town and my phone's dead." Even I didn't believe my story, but he seemed to buy it.

He looked around and flicked a switch. "I'll come take a look at it."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Why not? We don't get many outsiders here unless they live in the state. Where were you headed?"

"Richmond. I was in Mystic Falls for a few days on business," I lied as he followed me out towards the woods.

"Business there?" Now he was regretting his decision to help me.

Without wanting to hear them, his thoughts floated across my mind and I felt my jaw drop at the vivid images I got from him. All he could think about was what I looked like naked and I had barely taken two more steps before I reached up and slapped him. My fangs had lengthened and I was angry on top of hungry; not a good combination. Before I could stop myself, I had him shoved against a tree and I was drinking. The blood exploded in my mouth and I could feel myself getting stronger and stronger. His life essence diminished rapidly and just when I thought I wouldn't be able to let go, Damon pulled me from him and the man dropped to the ground with a thud. I shuddered as I looked at Damon. "Give him a minute to regain consciousness," was all he said.

"How long will that be?" I asked, ignoring my bloody chin for the moment.

The man started groaning and Damon gestured to him. "Right about now."

"Yes, thank you," I said dryly and forced him into a sitting position. "How exactly does this work?"

"Look him in the eye and tell him what you want him to have seen instead of what really happened."

I looked into his eyes and felt the instant he seemed to be awaiting my commands. "You never saw either of us. You were running after a thief and you got hit over the head and passed out. Do you understand?"

He nodded and got to his feet before automatically walking back to the store. Damon pulled me to my feet and kissed me in order to lap up the excess blood. Had I not been a little buzzed on the fresh blood, I would have been a little revolted by the action. "That was amazing."

"I wonder if I can do that by planting a suggestion in their minds with my powers."

He licked his lips at that. "Next time."

I nodded, knowing there would, in fact, be a next time. "Alright, now we need to get you a victim," I said and then paled at my choice of words.

He planted a kiss on my forehead. "You'll get used to it. You're still new."

I pulled away from him. "You're not bothered are you? That's it's taking me some time to get adjusted to this? I know you're all about the thrill of the hunt, but-"

"Elena," he said, cutting me off by pressing two fingers over my lips. "I would be bothered if you were pulling a Stefan. However, you're drinking human blood regularly from blood bags. You're working you're way up to hunting and as long as you're making the effort, I don't care what you do. You're not trying to change me either and that is why I love you."

I tried to hold back my smile and failed. "You make it very hard to hate you."

"I'm aware," he responded and took my hand. The next thing I knew, we were in a different town repeating the scenario we had just been in to get Damon fed and he let me do the compulsion again. I had to admit, I liked the feeling of being in control and it scared me.

* * *

At quarter to two, I walked up to the Grill and hesitated before going inside. Since it was a Saturday afternoon, the place had a decent crowd and even through all the people, I could still see Stefan sitting in the booth by the kitchen as if he were standing right in front of me. He stiffened when he saw me and I was torn between going to say hello or turning around and leaving. He seemed to sense that I was leaning towards the latter and was standing next to me before I could move. "You're back," was all he said.

"I didn't know you were still in town."

"Off and on."

"Where have you been staying?" I asked.

"Sometimes the boarding house, sometimes the motel," he answered and I stared at him, waiting for more of an explanation, but it never came. "What brings you back?"

"Jeremy's graduation on Thursday."

He nodded and was going to say something when I we both noticed Bonnie coming out of the bathroom and headed to the booth where Stefan had been sitting. I narrowed my eyes and saw half empty plates on both sides of the table. She looked around for him and when she spotted us, I saw her fear, embarrassment, and guilt wash over her face clearly. Stefan shifted uncomfortably as Bonnie approached us and gave me a weary hug. Her mental guards were up and she couldn't look me in the eye. "When did you come back?"

"Yesterday. I'm supposed to meet Matt for lunch," I said, looking between the two of them, wondering who was going to break first and tell me what was going on. When it looked like neither of them was going to say anything I nodded and walked away from both of them to see Matt who was coming out of the back rooms.

"Hey, I'm almost-" he stopped when he saw Bonnie and Stefan arguing as quietly as they could, but I could still hear them. I tuned them out as I looked at Matt.

"You knew?" I asked and pushed away from the bar.

"Elena..." he was searching for the best way to say it. "It wasn't my place to tell you."

I clamped my mouth shut, knowing he was right and I had to respect him for it. Then I thought Caroline must not have known because I would have been the first one she told. "Fine, but as soon as you're done, we're going somewhere else to catch up," I said stiffly and sat down at the bar even though minors weren't allowed. When I finally worked up the courage to turn around, Bonnie and Stefan were gone and I sighed with relief.

"Ready?" Matt asked as he came back out again in a fresh shirt.

"Yes," I replied and we headed outside. There was a bistro on the opposite side of town and Matt drove us there even though it was a twenty minute walk. Had we walked, we would have had nothing to talk about over lunch. "How's Caroline?" I asked after we placed our orders.

"She's good. We both went to the same college. Right now she's visiting her dad. I know she would have loved to see you."

He talked a little bit about school before he started probing me about Europe and what I had seen there. I told him everything I had seen and promised him that as soon as Jenna returned my camera, I would show him the photos. I didn't tell him about the incident in Dublin or the dreams, but I told him pretty much everything else. "One of these days, I'll have you and Caroline come out and travel with us."

He bit his lip and said nothing even though we both knew it would never happen. "How does it feel to be back?"

"Awkward," I answered as I paid the bill and we walked back to the car. My reply was mostly based on what I had seen in the Grill and he seemed to pick up on that.

He reached for my hand and squeezed it lightly. "Just wait until they talk to you."

I hugged him and stepped back after a few moments. "I know. Thanks for lunch."

"Why are you thanking me? You paid."

I laughed. "Actually, Damon did, but thank you making me have lunch with you. I'll see you around okay."

"Where are you going?"

"Tyler's. Out of everyone, he won't call me, but I need to see how he's doing. I'll make sure I see you before I leave," I assured him and waited until he was driving off before I made my way to Tyler's house.

I knocked on the door and when Tyler answered, he looked around on the inside of the house before coming to stand outside with me. "What are you doing here?"

"You're not going to invite me in?"

"My father's on the council," he said flatly and I thanked my lucky stars that Tyler had answered the door. Granted the council didn't know about Damon, Stefan, or me, but the thought alone made me shiver.

"Okay, fair enough. Want to go for a walk?" I asked.

He glanced back at the house before nodding. "Sure."

"How are things?" I asked as we walked around the block of expensive houses.

"Much easier then I thought it would be," he said and his smile seemed kind of wolfish. "You wouldn't believe how much easier it is to pick up chicks with this kind of reputation."

"What reputation?" I asked, mildly curious.

"Great stamina."

His response made me pause and I nodded. "I think I could have gone eternity without knowing that."

He grinned and nudged me. "How's Damon?"

"Same as always."

He nodded. "How was Europe?"

I looked at him. "How did you know we were in Europe?"

"Alaric mentioned it. He came to check on me a few times when I went to use the boarding house," he answered, sparking my memory.

"Speaking of, have you been there lately?"

He shook his head after a moment of thoughtful silence. "No, why?"

"We came back last night and both Stefan's room and Damon's room were trashed," I said and explained about the picture I found. We had circled the block and were back at his house. "Would you do me a favor and keep an ear out for anything unusual?"

He nodded. "Sure. How long will you be in town?"

I shrugged. "Not sure yet. You have my number right?"

"If not, I'll get it from Matt. Glad you're back. Even if it is for a short time," he said and he gave me one of the hugs boys give one another. Hands grasped in between chests and one arm across the shoulders.

"Thanks. Glad to see you've adjusted," I said and shook my head with laughter as he disappeared inside the house. With that, I took off back to the boarding house hoping that it would only be Damon there.

* * *

**a/n: I realized I have no idea how old Jeremy is supposed to be so I made him a year younger than Elena (in case you didn't catch that) :) just thought I should let you know. And as for the Bonnie/Stefan pairing...not quite sure where that's going as of yet.**


	4. Chapter 4

FOUR

It was Monday before Bonnie left me a message saying she wanted to talk. I went to her house sometime around noon and was half surprised to find it was just her. She stepped back to let me in and we both stood in the foyer, unsure of what to say. She motioned with her head that she was going to sit in the formal living room. She was biting her lip, trying to find the right words. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

"It's not like we haven't been talking almost every day."

"I wasn't sure how you would take it."

I nodded and relaxed against the couch. "How long?"

"Since Christmas." She saw my mouth open to say something, but she rushed on. "We haven't...We aren't..." she sighed in frustration. "We're not at that level yet. I told him we would wait until you knew."

"Alright. I'm listening."

She took a deep breath and figured out exactly where to start. I moved to the opposite end of the couch so I could refrain from entering her mind. "We had a week off in the fall and I came back to see my parents. I was out shopping with Caroline one day and I got some really good deals and I drove to the boarding house to show you. I felt like an idiot when I realized half way there that you weren't going to be there. Instead of going home, I just kept driving. You and Damon said the boarding house was open to everyone if they needed somewhere to go and I just wanted to be alone for a little bit. I pulled up and when I walked inside, I saw Stefan and Tyler just playing video games." She stopped to smile and shake her head at the memory. "They had junk food all over the place and cans galore. They were so into the game they didn't even hear the car. They nearly jumped out of their skin when I cleared my throat."

I laughed along with her. "I really wish you had gotten that on video."

"Right?" she said and smiled as she relaxed in her seat. "I just watched them play for a few more hours and then Tyler left. Stefan and I started talking, mostly about you because you were only talking to me. I'm not really sure how it happened, but some time later, he kissed me. Instead of saying anything, I just left and avoided him for the rest of the week." She paused and took a deep breath. "Then Christmas Break came and I started working at the Grill again with Matt. Stefan came in every day until I gave in and talked to him. It started out with just lunch or movies at the boarding house and then it became dinners and..."

"Kissing?" I supplied and her dark cheeks flushed. I smiled lightly. "I get it, it escalated from there."

She nodded, "Caroline and Matt told me every day that I should cool it and tell you before anything happened so that's what I did. I feel like I've broken some major rule here."

I laughed and put my hand on hers. "Caroline's dating Matt; my ex. You're dating Stefan; my other ex. I'm seeing Stefan's brother. None of this is exactly following the usual rules of friends."

"So you're okay with this?"

I hesitated before I answered. "Um, give me time to get used to it, but I promise to try and not let it be awkward."

She moved closer to me and hugged me. "Thank you for understanding. I mean, if Stefan really had done all those things last year, I would have never-"

"I know that," I said and pulled away from her. "Just don't ask me to double date."

She laughed really hard at that thought and I joined her. "Oh, I would never do that to you."

When we were able to not break into laughter by looking at each other, I decided to fill her in on everything. After I told her about Europe, promising she could have the camera after Matt, I told her about the incident in Dublin. "It was definitely Roarke."

She nodded, but she wasn't really listening to me. "What did you say Klaus said he was? An Original? What the hell does that mean?"

"I asked Damon and he gave me some snarky comment about how the Original is exactly what it implies," I said and rolled my eyes as Bonnie gave me almost the same look Damon had given me.

"Back to Roarke, you said in the dream, Katherine had swapped blood with him before leaving him there, right? So it could be possible that Klaus watched and killed him afterwards, making him a vampire."

"Of course it's possible and I've thought of that too, but why would he do that? He didn't even want to turn Katherine." We were both silent, trying to think of something, but came up with nothing. "Hey, when was the last time you were at the boarding house?" I asked.

"Friday morning before work," she said and then her eyes widened. "Why?"

"We came back Friday night and both Damon and Stefan's rooms were torn apart. Things were still settling in Stefan's room when we opened the door and Katherine's picture was on the table."

"I thought you said that was missing?"

"It was. There was a bullet hole in her head and fresh blood was smeared on the bottom into words. It was a foreign language, but I'm pretty sure the message was something about death and I don't think it was directed towards Katherine."

She nodded as she let in sink in. "I'll ask Stefan about it when I see him."

"Okay. I'll call you later alright?"

I opened the door to leave, but she caught me. "Hey, you know Alaric might know about the Originals. He went through all of her research when he found out what happened to her. Maybe she had some information on them."

"Maybe I should just find those damn journals," I muttered.

"Just talk to Alaric first and go from there," she said with a small smile and checked the clock on the wall. "School will be out soon."

I had to do a double take because I was a little startled that I had been here for a few hours. "I'll head over there."

"Elena? I'm sorry you had to find out that way," she said as I stepped onto the patio.

"It's okay. I'm glad you told me," I said and waved before I sped my way to the school. I got there just as the bell for the beginning of the last class rang. I walked down the familiar halls, unable to stop the memories washing over me. When I made it to Alaric's class room, I hesitated before pushing the door open. I was surprised to see that it was just him at his desk. "No students?" I asked.

He smiled when he saw me and I sat in one of the student desks near his. "This is my prep hour now. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to catch you before you went home. I have a few questions, but I don't want to ask them here."

He nodded, "Alright, help me grade these and we can go." He handed me a somewhat small stack of papers and the answer key. It took me five minutes to grade fifty papers due to my ability to speed read and handed them back to him in the time he had graded two of the exact same paper. "Okay, that's not fair."

I smirked, "You can't just go now?"

He nodded as he started assembling his desk. "Let's go," he said and then paused at the door. "On second thought, we should probably wait. I think they would get the wrong impression if they saw me leaving with a former student."

"Are you allowed to leave during your prep hour if your work is done?" I asked and he nodded. I extended my hand to him. "Do you trust me?" He looked at me for a second before he nodded and took my hand. In under thirty seconds we were standing in front of his car near the back of the staff parking lot. He took a step back and looked around in awe. "No one saw a thing," I assured him and winked as he unlocked the car and opened my door for me.

"That was definitely a strange feeling," he said as he started the car and began driving.

"Tell me about it," I muttered.

"Now that we're out of the school, what did you want to ask me?"

I tried to figure out the best way to ask without it sounding awkward and sighed when I couldn't. "Do you have any of Isobel's research from when she was human?"

I noticed his hands gripped tighter on the wheel at the sound of her name, but he did nod his head. "When she disappeared, I read through her computer and her notes. I have everything still. It's how I learned how to kill vampires."

"Mind if I take a look at it?"

He nodded again as he pulled up in front of his townhouse. I followed him and he opened the door. I stopped at the threshold due to the invisible barrier that prevented me from coming inside. He realized I wasn't following him and turned around. "Sorry. Come in," he said and I shut the door behind me. "It's in here," he added and I followed him to the back of the first floor and into the den. "What exactly are you hoping to find?"

I gave him the condensed version of my "memories" about Katherine's past and when I mentioned Klaus and the Originals, he began sorting through his files on the computer and rolled his chair to the side so I could take a look. There wasn't much to read. From the lack of information I could tell that Isobel had been working on this before she was turned. It basically told me what I already knew, but confirmed Damon's theory that it meant Klaus was one of the original vampires. There were legends of them but no one was sure how many were around, who they were, or anything else about them. "She doesn't have much information on it."

"It was what she was working on it before she...left," the last word was in a lower voice and he looked away from me.

I nodded and stepped away from the computer. "That's what I thought."

We were both silent for a moment before he blurted out something that I was not expecting. "She was different when she was human. One day she was the Isobel I fell in love with and the next...she was obsessed with vampires. I think it had something to do with Katherine."

"What do you mean?" I asked as I crossed my arms.

"There was a day she came home and told me a distant relative had tracked her down and wanted to meet her. They set up a lunch date and when she came back, she was different."

"Different how?"

He shook his head. "I can't explain, but she wasn't as energetic as she should have been. I think Katherine compelled her to be that obsessive. I think she gave Isobel the way to contact Damon."

I nodded, trying not to think about that. Then I remembered the portrait and the foreign letters. "Hey, would you be able to recognize a written language?"

"Possibly. Why?" I explained the portrait and his brow rose. "Do you have the picture with you?"

I shook my head and extended my hand to him for the second time. "I don't think I need it. Trust me?"

A light smile touched his face. "Eventually that question is going to get us in trouble," he said as he put his hand in mine. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the portrait as hard as I could. I then pushed the image and felt him tense the moment I entered his thoughts. "It's German," he said and didn't sound at all surprised.

"Alright, so Damon and I will go to Germany and start asking."

He was laughing at me. "Going to Germany to ask about a man named Klaus is going to get you nowhere. Klaus is the German equivalent to John."

I sighed and couldn't help but laugh as well. "Good point. I'll think of something. Thank you for letting me look at this."

"Any time," he replied and walked me to the door.

I smiled and waved before taking off back to the boarding house. When I got close to the property, I could sense something was wrong. I moved faster then I had ever moved before and the moment I walked through the door I cried out. The living room looked like a tornado had run through it and in the middle of everything was Damon. His skin was turning that ash-grey and his body was riddled with wooden bullets.


	5. Chapter 5

FIVE

"No," I breathed as I dropped to the ground beside him and started digging out the bullets. My fingers were shaky and my body was trembling, but I worked the fastest my fingers could go. Tears of anger stung my eyes as I thought of all the ways I would get back at the person who did this to him. When I made sure I had the bullets out, I sampled his blood to make sure he hadn't ingested any vervain. "Damon, open your eyes. Say something. Anything," I begged.

His skin was still ashen, but it was returning to its normal shade slowly. "Ouch," was all he said and I felt my entire body relax at the sound of his voice; no matter how sarcastic it was.

I had him draped across my lap and I looked down at his open blue eyes and shook my head as I smiled. "What the hell happened?" I asked as I watched his wounds begin to heal.

"Is your plan to torture me?"

"What?" I asked and realized what he meant. "Oh. Right." I moved him to the floor and got as many blood bags as I could carry in my arms and brought them to him. That was the one thing I missed about being human; the ability to heal him. When he was sitting, we both propped ourselves up against the couch that was tipped over. "Now will you tell me what happened?"

"I would if I really remembered. I just went to open the door and next thing I know, you're digging pieces of wood out of me."

"Was the living room this way when you opened the door?"

"No."

"Why would someone ransack the house after they shot you. That's just stupid."

He shrugged. "There is the possibility that I did this."

"Did you seen anyone?"

He shook his head, "Not a single thing. I didn't hear anything either."

I frowned as I got to my feet. "Is Stefan here?"

In an instant he was standing beside me and the look of hurt on his face was not faked. "I almost got killed and you want to know if Stefan is here?"

"If he is, I want to thank him for helping us," I explained in a cold, sarcastic tone, so he would get the message.

As if on cue, Stefan walked in the front door and stopped when he saw the living room. "What did you two do?" he asked, taking in the damage that was the living room.

Damon's foul mood seemed to have disappeared as his cocky attitude returned. "How detailed of a description would you like?"

"Damon," I hissed in a warning tone.

Stefan ignored him, but I saw his eyes harden as he looked at me. "What happened?"

"Someone attacked me dear brother."

I could have sworn Stefan smiled at that. "It's about time."

I stepped in front of Damon before he could go after his brother. "When was the last time you were home?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Friday morning."

"Before or after Bonnie left?"

I could hear Damon laughing even before sound came from his mouth. He stepped forward until he was right by my side. "It figures the witch would have a soft spot for wounded animals."

"Hey!" I snapped and turned to look at him.

"Don't talk about Bonnie that way," Stefan said defensively.

"Explain to me why Bonnie the witch would fall for Saint Stefan the vampire," Damon demanded. Stefan was silent for a moment and I could see the steam coming out of his hears as he tried to contain his anger. Damon's bout of laughter cut through the air again. "I just answered my own question. She's with you because of your dietary choice. How...pathetic."

Stefan's eyes flickered from Damon to me. "That's why Elena was with me."

I looked down at the floor and felt Damon stiffen beside me but only for a moment. "That was before I taught her better."

Stefan lunged at Damon and before they got the chance to hurt one another, I yanked Stefan back by his shirt and threw him into the wall near the stairs. "That's enough out of both of you!" I hissed, looking and back and forth between them. I looked at Damon and gestured to myself. "I'm standing right here."

He was fuming and I was a little angry with him as well. "I know."

"Where are you going?" I asked as he walked to the door.

"That blood was not enough," he returned and left before I could protest.

"You're just going to let him go out like that?"

I looked at Stefan then. "I'm not his keeper, he's allowed to come and go as he pleases."

"He could hurt someone."

"I don't care about that right now. I'm more worried about who might hurt him," I said and looked back at the door again, debating if I should run after him.

I decided against it and looked at Stefan. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him. "I'm sorry," he said.

I nodded once. "When did you leave Friday?"

"Around eleven or so. Why?"

"We came back Friday night and both your room and Damon's room were completely trashed. Damon thought it might have been you, but once we saw your room, it didn't make sense. We couldn't even get a scent from either room. I didn't smell you or Bonnie," I shook my head. "It was almost as if no one had ever stepped foot in either room."

"And the living room?"

I shrugged. "I just came home and found the living room in shambles and Damon on the floor complete with wooden bullets. I'm going to find who did this and make them regret that decision."

He grimaced and looked down for a second, running a hand through his hair. I noticed the ring I had given back to him was now on his finger. It brought back memories of last year and I had to step back from him. "You're starting to sound like him." I ignored his comment and moved to start cleaning up. He caught my wrist and forced me to look at him. "You never even said goodbye to me. You just left."

I pulled out of his grasp and took a small step back. "I didn't know how to say goodbye to you."

"A simple 'I'm leaving' would have been fine."

"What do you care anyway? I know you hate the fact that I'm with Damon and that I'm living the same lifestyle. Besides, it's not like you were going anywhere."

"I hate the fact that you're with Damon. It's something that I think about every day; the fact that I couldn't protect you when you needed me to. I wasn't there for you when you needed me and he stepped right up. How long did it take you before you started sleeping with him?"

My jaw dropped. "Once we both found out that you called Katherine back."

"I did _not_ bring her back! That was Isobel!"

"It doesn't change the fact that when I see you, all I think about is the night that you left me to die in my house. Then the night that you almost murdered my father right in front of me. Then, you almost killed me again on graduation. That's why I didn't say goodbye to you. Because I didn't want to see you anymore," I said and shoved him as I walked towards the stairs.

In an instant, I was pinned between him and the wall. I was too caught up in my emotions to fight him back. "You can hate me all you want, but I still love you Elena. It kills me to know that I hurt you so much and I can't change it."

"Bonnie-"

"Is not you," he whispered and his face softened. "If it weren't for Damon and Bonnie, would you take me back?"

I stared into his eyes for what seemed like hours before I shook my head and watched his unbeating heart shatter into a million pieces. "Like I said before," I whispered. "Every time I see you, I see what you did to me and my family." I slipped from his grasp and watched him walk towards the door. "You said you stayed at the motel sometimes. Why?"

"Because being here reminded me too much of you."

As he was about to walk outside, I called for him. "Stefan?" He paused, but didn't turn around. "If you hurt her, I swear I'll kill you myself." He half turned and I could see the smile touching his lips before he jetted off to his next destination.

* * *

Knowing that Damon still needed time to cool down, I called Tyler and Matt to come help me with this mess of a living room. It didn't take us long and even though I could have cleaned it just fine on my own, I needed company so I could avoid thinking about Damon and if he was okay or not. I flopped down on the couch beside Tyler the moment we finished and watched him and Matt pant to catch their breath. "I think I got screwed on the supernatural gene pool," Tyler muttered as he stared back at me.

I laughed, briefly. "Are you guys hungry?"

"Starving," Matt breathed as Tyler nodded in agreement.

"I'll order pizza," I said and went to the formal living room to order it. When I turned around Matt was there and I jumped. He saw it and is brow rose.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Elena, where's Damon?"

"He went out to feed."

"He just-"

"I know that!" I hissed and backed away from him. "I know that and I'm trying not to think too much about it. Stefan was here before I called you two over and the two of them had a fight. Damon's off venting and I need to keep my mind off of it. That's why you're here and you suck at keeping me occupied." The last part I said with a smile as I poked him lightly in the shoulder.

"Well, what do you want to do?" he asked as he followed me back to the living room. "Cards? Video games? Any board games laying around?"

"Booze?" Tyler asked from the couch, looking hopeful.

"In the basement. I'll go and get it," I said as I realized the bottles on the bar in the living room had been smashed. I brought up as many bottles of whatever I could carry and set it on the coffee table. Tyler went for the half-empty tequila and sat back on the couch while he took a drink.

"We could invite a few people over. Have a party," Tyler suggested after a third swig.

I half smiled and shook my head. "I can't promise not to make a snack out of any of the guests."

Both boys paused and exchanged glances. "You're hungry?" Matt asked and squirmed in his seat. _She should just ask. I've been thinking about that night and how I felt. I wish_-

I shook myself and found myself staring at him with wide eyes. He blushed and looked away, knowing I had read his thoughts. "Why didn't you just say so?" Tyler questioned.

"I'm not hungry, I'm just restless, irritated, and slightly angry."

Tyler grinned, "Female problems."

I tossed a pillow at him and he swatted it aside. "I think I have cards somewhere," I said and dug them out from one of the drawers in the kitchen. After the pizza came, we talked for a little bit before I was too concerned about Damon to focus. "I'm just going to head upstairs. You guys can stay here for as long as you want. Tyler, give me your keys."

He laughed at that. "I can change into a wolf and you're worried about me drunk driving?"

"Just give me your keys. You too Matt," I said and extended my hand. They both fished their pockets for their keys and handed them to me. "See you in the morning," I added and walked upstairs. I entered Damon's room and after I shut the door, I felt the air shift and Damon had me pinned to the door. "Where the hell have you been?" I asked angrily, forcing myself to ignore the safety I felt in his arms for a few seconds.

"Hunting."

"For eight hours?"

He blinked in surprise, obviously time had escaped him. "I'm sorry. I should not have left like that."

"You think? Someone just tried to kill you and you run off as if nothing had happened," I said as I slipped out from him. "You should have at least called to let me know you were okay."

I moved to stand in front of the bed and looked at him. "Elena, I truly am sorry I made you worry, but if I stayed here for one more minute, I would have killed him. And you would have been angry with me."

A smile twitched at my lips and he saw it. "And?"

He grinned, but took a step closer to me. "And I should not have said those things about you." He took another step and another until he put his hands in mine. "Especially not with you standing there."

I returned his grin and feigned to be hurt as I stepped back. "It's not me you should apologize to."

The playfulness in his face died instantly. "No."

"Damon, you didn't have to say those things to him about his relationship with Bonnie. Or about me."

"No, but I said them and they are true and you can't deny that."

I stared at him, knowing he was right and sighed. "True as they might have been, it still hurt and they were unnecessary. If you don't apologize, fine, just don't let it happen again."

He slipped his arms around me and pressed his lips against the side of my neck. I faltered, trying to remember that I was angry with him. "I won't."

"You better not," I said and gave in to his charms as we tumbled onto the bed. My hands were fisted in his hair and pulled his head closer to deepen the kiss. I felt my shirt slide up and groaned as his lips trailed their way down to glide across my now exposed stomach. He pulled back only for a moment to remove my jeans and the underwear beneath them. My neck arched and my head ground against the pillow at the feel of his tongue where I craved him most. My hands dug into the sheets and gripped them tightly as his tongue moved expertly. I moaned again, forgetting there were other in the house and I shut my eyes at the feel of my head binding, getting ready for my first release. It never came and when I opened my eyes, Damon was sitting back on his knees, smirking arrogantly.

In an instant, I was kneeling in front of him and kept his gaze while I unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off of his shoulders. My hands slid up and down his sleek muscles before reaching down to undo is belt. I undid the fly of his jeans and slipped my hand behind the elastic of his boxers. His eyes half closed as my hand closed around him. He bent down to kiss me and the faster I pumped, the harder he kissed. When I could sense he was about to let go, I withdrew my hand and sat back. He had a mock angry look before reaching out for the hem of my shirt. Before I could protest, he tore it away and cut off my whine with another kiss. He reached behind me to unhook my bra and tossed it to the floor. He lowered his head to my chest and my head tipped back as his mouth closed over one of my breasts. His hand kneaded the other one and he alternated, torturing me in the process.

I smiled as I moved with vampire speed and pinned him to the wall. His eyes flashed as he looked down at the sight of me running my hands up and down his chest. He hated it when I showed him that I was a little stronger then him and to show me up, he lifted me by my biceps and slammed my back against the wall. I had wrapped my legs around his waist in the process and the moment I turned, I slid myself onto him. His hips ground against mine, thrusting wildly as he nuzzled my neck. His fangs grazed my skin and as he bit down, my hands gripped his shoulders so tightly, he bled from my fingernails.

I gasped slightly as he moved from the wall to throw me down on the desk on the far side of the room; never stopping. My head hung off the side of the desk as I felt his teeth slide into my skin again and with that, my release came. I reached up to run my fingers through his hair and moved so that he was beneath me on the desk. I sat up straight, letting my head tip back as his hands slithered up and down my body in a mock rhythm to his hips. When I could feel my second release, I best forward slightly so I could rest my hands on his chest and stare into those passion-drunk blue eyes. His nails gripped my hips hard enough to draw blood as he increased his pace and in one earth-shattering moment, we came together. When it was over, I collapsed on top of him. The movement caused the legs to crack and we fell to the floor with a cry of surprise. We landed in a heap of tangled limbs and laughed hysterically before Damon's lips came down over mine and we picked right back up.


	6. Chapter 6

SIX

The sound of muffled voices roused me from sleep. I kept my eyes shut as I recognized Tyler and Matt's voices just outside the door. The door creaked open slowly as they both shushed each other. I smiled and hoped they didn't see me. I wanted to see what they were up to and if they really thought I wouldn't hear them. I may be dead, but I didn't sleep like I was. "Shit!" Tyler hissed as something crashed to the floor.

That made me smile even wider. It wasn't like the room was in pristine condition. The desk was broken, the walls were covered in holes and blood and I knew there were bits of clothes and scraps of sheets flung around the room. "Shut up Tyler."

"You shut up."

"Both of you be quiet," I said as I sat upright, holding the sheet tightly in front of my chest. They both exchanged glances before looking at me. Matt immediately averted his eyes and Tyler just stared openly at every bit of exposed skin he could see. "Eyes up here," I said and pointed to my face.

"We came for our keys," Tyler explained staring hard at my eyes.

"You should have knocked," came Damon's voice as he leaned on the door that connected his private bathroom to his room. There was nothing but a towel wrapped around those lean hips and the light of him made me lick my lips and imagine all the ways I could ravage him. Matt's throat cleared and I snapped out of my daydreaming and pulled the sheet tighter around me. "We'll have them for you in a moment," he added and without saying another word, both boys bolted from the room.

I put my head in my hands as I laughed. "That was horrible."

"They should know better. There was no way that they didn't hear us last night so whatever they saw is on them."

When I looked up at him, the towel was pooled around his feet and everything I was going to say was forgotten. In a flash he was on top of me. "They're waiting for us," I breathed between kisses.

"Let them wait," he whispered back as he nipped at my earlobe.

I groaned in both want and the need to stop. "Don't you think we did enough damage for one night?" I asked.

He lifted his head enough to look around the room. "No."

He kissed me again, but I slid out from beneath him and rummaged through his clothes for a long T-shirt and a pair of my own underwear. I grabbed their keys from the floor where they had ended up and before I opened the door. "I'll be back in one minute and I promise we won't leave the house today."

"One. Two. Three," he started as he stretched out and but his arms behind his head.

Matt and Tyler were waiting in the living room, leaning on the couch. "Sorry about that," I apologized and handed them their keys. "Thank you both for coming last night and keeping me distracted."

"Any time," Matt returned.

"Can I suggest ear plugs for your guests next time?" Tyler teased as he walked past me for the door. "I might have to breathe like a human, but I can assure you that my hearing is just as good as yours."

I smiled apologetically. "I could just not give you alcohol anymore."

He pretended to look hurt. "Ouch. That really hurt Elena."

"Be careful driving home," I said and right when Matt's fingers closed around the doorknob, Tyler and I both yanked him backwards.

"Guys!" he yelled as he pulled away from both of us, rubbing his shoulders.

In seconds, a jean-clad Damon was in the living room with us looking just as concerned. "Something's out there," I said, looking at him. My eyes flickered to Matt. "Will you go to the basement and stay there please?"

"Elena-"

"Go!" the three of us demanded at once.

"Fine," Matt said tightly and stomped down to the basement.

"I'll check around back," Damon said and I grabbed his arm. "I'll be fine," he assured me and traced the outline of my face before he went towards the back door.

I opened the front door and stepped cautiously out onto the patio with Tyler close behind me. He was sniffing the air as I reached out with all of my senses and came up with nothing. "This can't be right. There's definitely something out there but I'm not picking up on anything."

He nodded in agreement. "I don't-"

I put my hand on his chest to push him back as I saw Roarke at the edge of the property line. "Roarke."

"Who?"

I pointed. "He's right there." I looked at Tyler for a moment and saw his eyes searching. I looked back at Roarke whose mouth was moving in a chant. "You don't see him," I breathed and then it happened.

My head was filled with a high pitched shriek that sounded like nails on a chalkboard only much, much worse. I put my head in my hands and cried out. I stumbled and Tyler caught me before I hit the deck. He laid me down as I continued to squirm and cry as the pain in my head increased. "Elena?" Tyler said over and over again. My hands clawed at my hair and when they ran down my face, they came away slick with blood.

My vision blurred and I felt a burning sensation sweep through my entire body as Damon's face floated in front of me. "Tyler, call Bonnie. Now!" he snapped before looking down at me. He was faded, but I could still see the profile of his face. "Stay with me Elena," he pleaded and before I could reassure him, everything went black.

* * *

My entire body was stiff and sore and my head felt groggy. I groaned as I moved my head and felt a wave of nausea. My eyes fluttered opened and I looked around the room. "Elena, don't move if you don't have to okay?" came Bonnie's voice from beside me.

"What happened?" I asked and could barely recognize my own voice it was so hoarse.

"What do you remember?" she asked as she came into my line of vision.

I closed my eyes against the sudden blurriness. "The boys were about to leave when we all sensed something was outside. We went to look and there was nothing. Then Roarke-" I stopped mid-sentence and gave a strangled cry.

I tired to sit up and she forced me back. "No, stay still."

"Elena, stop trying to move," came Damon's voice and I opened my eyes to see him.

"Tyler didn't see him, but I did. He was there," I explained, mostly to reassure myself that I wasn't crazy.

He took my hand with one of his and wiped away my tears with his free one. "No one is going to say that you didn't see him. You gave us quite the scare."

"There was blood on my hands," I said as I remembered the sticky feelings as I moved my hands over my face.

He nodded briefly. "You were bleeding from your ears, eyes, and nose. Tyler called Bonnie and she helped us stop the bleeding."

"Whatever happened to you was definitely done by a witch or warlock," Bonnie said in agreement. "A strong one." She moved out of my sight and when she came back, she was holding a cup. "Here, drink this. It should help with the nausea."

Damon lifted my head for me as Bonnie poured the hot liquid down my throat. "That was disgusting," I said as I coughed from the bitter taste it left in my mouth. "But it did help," I added as it instantly made the rolling waves of nausea slip into the background.

I sat up with Damon's help and rested against the headboard. I relaxed after I realized I was in Damon's room and both of them were standing on opposite sides of the bed. "When I did the scrying last year and found there was no other trace of magick but me in the area, it was because Isobel was compelling me to do it. What I didn't realize was that by doing that spell, it became an alert system. I've been having energy spikes here and there since you got back and I figured it was just you and your telepathy but I did a little digging and found I can only trace full blooded witches and warlocks. If you think Roarke is here, then I'm here to tell you that he is."

"So Klaus had to have made him a vampire after Katherine did the blood exchange. That's the only possible explanation," I said as I hugged my knees to my chest. I looked at Damon who had folded his arms across his chest. "We need to find Klaus. What if Katherine did something to him at some point and now he's out for revenge? What if he thinks I'm her and he and-"

"Elena, stop thinking about it," Bonnie said lightly as she reached for my hand.

I snatched it away from her and slid off the bed. "It's been proven that my blood can bring her back. And no offense, but if you can do it, I can't imagine what Roarke can do. Katherine pissed him off by becoming a vampire. You should have seen the look on his face after Klaus left."

Bonnie held her hands up as if to surrender. "You're obviously feeling better, so I'm gonna go home. Call me if you need me," she said and was out the door as fast as she could be.

I tipped my head back and groaned in frustration. "I shouldn't have yelled at her."

"Probably not," was all he said and smirked at me from where he stood. "Tyler and Matt are still downstairs. You haven't been out that long."

I had been pacing and I stopped when I caught my reflection in the window pane. "Oh God," I hissed and stared in disbelief. My face, shoulders, and arms were stained with blood and my hair was crusted over with blood as well. "Gross."

"Take a shower. I'll be downstairs with them."

Any other time I would have asked him to join me, but I simply nodded and headed to the bathroom to enjoy the silence. After I was finished and dressed, I stepped into the hall and walked downstairs. "Feeling better?" Matt asked as he and Tyler ran for me.

"A little," I answered and smiled softly at both of them. "You should go home. I'll be fine."

"Elena-" Matt started.

"Please?"

Both boys nodded and said their goodbyes before leaving. I turned to Damon and he put his arms around me. "Maybe we should go stay at your house for the remainder of our stay here. If Roarke and Klaus are here, they can't get in without being invited in. Here, they don't have to be invited."

I nodded against his chest, my hair making his shirt damp. "We're leaving Saturday right?"

"Eager?"

"If either one of them wants me dead I would rather take the fight away from my family so no one else gets hurt. I know Jenna's might be safer, but I don't want to get anyone's hopes up nor do I want to get her closer to any of this. I just want Katherine's past to stop dumping itself on me."

His hands ran up and down my back in a soothing manner. "If Klaus really his an Original, it's going to be extremely hard to take him down. We might need everyone we can get to help."

I pulled back. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying maybe we should stay until we get rid of the two of them. We have powerful allies here and we can do more damage together then the two of us by ourselves. Just think about it. I'll do whatever you decide," he said and headed to the fridge. I sat at the bar and drank the glass of blood he made for me; lost in thought over the options to stay or go.


	7. Chapter 7

**a/n: I think I just figured out where I want this story to go so it should get more interesting pretty quick :)**

SEVEN

For the rest of the day, I had been afraid to leave the house just in case something else bad happened. Damon kept me with a steady supply of blood to replace what I had lost. It was around five that I got tired of watching movies and reruns on TV. "Have you thought about moving back home?"

"I've thought about it, and I still don't think it would be for the best. Yes, no one else could come and go unless we invited them, but it didn't stop Isobel and Katherine when they wanted something. At least this way, Jeremy and Jenna won't be as involved. Besides, I'm pretty sure they're safe because last I heard, Anna's kind of living there."

He was about to say something when my phone rang. It was somewhere in the wreckage that was the bedroom and I barely got it by the last ring. "Hey Elena, it's John."

I stood up slowly. "Hi. Is something wrong?"

"No, everything is alright. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Alaric, Jenna, and I haven't seen much of you since you came back."

I smiled lightly and nodded even though he couldn't see me. "There's been a lot that's been happening."

He was silent for a moment. "Look, do you remember last year when we had lunch to get to know each other better?"

"Yes," I said tightly. "And Isobel interrupted." The thought of that day ran through my mind as if it had happened yesterday. "What about it?"

"Well, we never did get to try it again. What are you doing tonight? We could have dinner and catch up."

I thought about it for a moment. "Sure. When and where?"

"Grill at six?"

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"Elena, you can bring Damon if you want."

I smiled, touched by his willingness to get along with Damon. "No, that's okay. It'll just be me," I assured him and hung up.

"Who was that and why am I not being invited?" Damon asked from the doorway.

"John wants to meet me for dinner at the Grill. We're going to try and get to know each other again. This time there won't be any interruptions. Hopefully."

I went to the closet, the one part of the room that was untouched. "What are you doing?"

I looked down at my outfit before looking back at him. "I don't know what to wear."

"You look fine."

I sighed as I looked around the closet one last time and saw nothing I wanted to wear. "He's actually trying. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Ever since I found out I was adopted, I wondered what my parents were really like. Then I met Isobel and she wasn't exactly the loving type. All I had left was to imagine my father was...I don't even know what I thought, but it certainly wasn't that I already knew him." I shook my head. "For as long as I could remember, he hated me. When he came to visit, he was always so excited to see Jeremy, but he hardly ever smiled my way. I guess it makes sense because I reminded him of that part of his life, but still."

"That man is very good at keeping secrets," Damon said and took my hand before leading me downstairs.

"Since you'll having nothing else to do while I'm gone, maybe you should clean the bedroom."

"Only if you'll help me damage it again," he vowed as he stopped at the landing of the stairs to kiss me deeply.

The sound of the front door closing broke us apart although we remained where we were, we turned to see Stefan. He did not look very happy. "Bonnie just told me what happened. When are you the two of you going to include me so that I can help?"

"When you're strong enough to matter," Damon said casually.

I stepped away from him and grabbed his car keys from the dish near the entry way. "I don't want to hear this. If you fight, clean it up before I get home," I said and pushed Stefan out of my way so I could get to the car outside. It was too early to go to the Grill, so I drove to the graveyard to pay my respects to my parents. I sat down cross legged and stared at the marker. Even in my head it didn't feel right to call them Mom and Dad anymore. Not that I would ever call John 'Dad', but the fact that they were my aunt and my uncle was setting in and sounding more right then ever. As I sat there in silence, remembering them, a thought occurred to me.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Bonnie's number. She answered rather quickly. "Elena?"

"For starters, I would like to say, I'm very sorry for snapping at you earlier."

"To be fair, you had just been through something."

"That's not much of an excuse," I said I could see her smile over the phone. "Thank you for coming over to heal me."

"You're welcome," she said and then paused. "And what kind of a favor did you call for?"

I grinned. "It's not for me. It's for Jeremy."

"Oh?"

"I don't know what to get him for graduation and I'm here at my...at the graveyard."

"By yourself?"

"Yes. I'm fine," I assured her and continued. "Can you communicate with the dead?"

"Elena-"

"Not connect with them, but communicate with them. Like the Ouija board, but with images?"

She laughed. "I think I remember seeing something like that in the spell book. I'm not home right now, but I'll call you later tonight and let you know if I find anything. I'm assuming you want to communicate with your parents so the two of you can say goodbye?"

"Just make sure your clear to invoke Jeremy's parents. I really don't want to communicate with Isobel," I said with a light laugh. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said and hung up.

I got to my feet and headed back to the car to drive to the Grill. I was only ten minutes early and was surprised to see that John was early as well. I slid into the opposite side of the booth that he was getting into and his eyes widened as he saw me. "Good to know where I get my promptness from." I smiled inside, knowing I had had that same thought last year although now it wasn't so awkward to think that way.

He smiled lightly. "I doubt it."

"You were early last time too. Isobel favored the fashionably late method."

The waitress took our order and as she left, Matt waved from his position behind the bar. I waved back, hoping that would be enough, but he approached us. "Damon let you leave after what happened?"

"Matt-"

"What happened?" John asked, looking very concerned.

"Thank you Matt. I hadn't gotten there yet. I'm fine, I promise."

He nodded, knowing I was dismissing him, but I knew he was keeping an eye out for me as we worked. "What the hell is he talking about?"

"I guess I should explain from the beginning," I muttered and told him what had happened starting from the moment we went back to the boarding house on Friday night. I didn't leave anything out. By the time I was done retelling the events of the past few days, our food had come to the table. "Damon thinks we should move back to Jenna's until this is over, but I don't want to put her directly in harms way. Besides, no one needed to be invited in to hurt Damon or me."

"I'm with you on staying at the boarding house. You won't be any safer there if the person attacking you doesn't need to be anywhere near you. I just don't understand why Tyler couldn't see Roarke."

I shook my head. "I don't know about that either. I don't like it because now I feel like I'm going crazy. It's one thing to read minds, but to see people that aren't there..." my voice trailed off as I realized how crazy _that_ sounded. I cleared my throat and moved on. "Have you heard anything on Klaus or the Originals? Or do you know anyone that might?"

"I might."

I waited for him to say more, but he didn't. "And?"

"And I'll get in contact with them," he assured me. I nodded, knowing he wasn't going to say anything else and there was that awkward silence that settled around us. "How are things with Damon?"

"Great," I said and smiled as I remembered the events of the previous night. I cleared my throat as he looked away, obviously catching the meaning behind the smile. "He's perfect. Well, for a vampire."

He laughed slightly. "As long as he continues to protect you, I'll try my best to like him."

"Thanks."

We ate for a little bit while trying to think of another topic. "I want to say I'm sorry for the way I treated you when you thought I was your uncle. Your parents didn't know about Isobel and I. I thought that if I showed special attention to you, they would pick up on that and you were so happy."

It was kind of random, but it was something I had been thinking about all day. He reached across the table and covered his hand with mine. "It's okay."

"No it's not. I made you think that I hated you."

I nodded in agreement. "I always thought you were the one that hated me and I was always trying to figure out what I did."

"I was never sure how I should act around you."

"Neither of us are sure about that now."

From there, conversation got easier and before we knew it, we were done with our food. It was eight-thirty when he paid and as I we were walking out, my phone rang. It was Bonnie. "Hey, I found the spell."

"Can I call you back in a minute?," I asked her and then walked outside with John. "Thank you for dinner."

"I know it's not what you needed, but it was good for both of us to clear the air."

This time, the hug was effortless and it felt right. When I pulled back, I smiled. "I'm still going to call you John if that's okay."

"Of course. Be safe."

"You too," I said and watched him walk to his car. I stayed outside and called Bonnie. "Sorry, I was saying goodbye to John."

"That's alright, that's better then what I thought I interrupted."

I laughed, "Is the spell something you can do?"

"Just tell me when you want to do it. I do suggest that when I do this, that it's just you and Jeremy. If there's too many people around, thoughts and images can get jumbled."

"Alright. I'll talk to Jeremy about it tomorrow and I'll get back to you. Thanks again."

"Welcome," she returned and hung up.

When I looked around I realized I was standing in the same spot I had been last year when Stefan had attacked me on graduation. I couldn't move as I relived that night over and over in my mind. A hand touched my shoulder and I lashed out. In seconds I had Tyler by the throat dangling above the ground. My fangs were out and he was trying to pull my hands away from his throat. "Elena! Its' me; Tyler. Elena!" he cried out.

I blinked as I began to see him and dropped him. Luckily he landed on his feet and rubbed his throat while he chocked. "I'm sorry," I muttered around my fangs before they retracted.

"It's okay," he said and stepped away from me. "Just tell me what I did so I never do it again."

"This is where Stefan attacked me last year," I explained without really looking at him. "You just caught me off guard."

He smiled apologetically. "Actually, I was trying to sneak up on you to see if you would be able to hear me."

I smiled a little. "Technically, I didn't hear you."

"Yeah, but you were...it wasn't the same."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Matt's off and he wanted to play pool. Want to join us? You can call Damon to come too if you want."

"He's probably still fighting with Stefan," I said darkly and then shook my head. "I'll stay for a little while." I felt a smirk coming onto my face as I started walking to the door. "Are you sure Matt will like me interrupting your date?"

He shoved me playfully as he opened the door for me. "Just get in there."


	8. Chapter 8

EIGHT

I waited in the parking lot Wednesday afternoon, leaning on the car I had given Jeremy last year. When he saw me, his face lit up. "What are you doing here?"

"I stopped by to give you your present."

"Graduation is tomorrow," he said, a little confused.

I smiled as I hugged him lightly. "I didn't want to wait. Come on," I urged and waited until he unlocked the car. "Drive to Bonnie's."

"Why?"

"That's where your present is. Sort of," I answered as I slid into the passenger seat.

He only nodded, choosing to go with it as he drove to Bonnie's house. She was waiting on the patio and when she saw the car, she came down and got into the back. "I thought you said it was at her house."

"Well, Bonnie was at her house and the present requires Bonnie."

He stared at me. "No offense, but I don't want something of magick origin."

Bonnie and I exchanged glances and smiled. She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. "Trust me Jere, this is one that you want."

He sighed. "Where am I driving to now?"

I didn't know the answer to that so I let Bonnie give the driving instructions. We were about to cross the Mystic Falls city limits when she told Jeremy to take a left and I felt a little uneasy as I realized where she was going. Sure enough, we pulled up in front of the old church where we thought Stefan had been killed in a cave-in in the catacombs. "Does it have to be this place?"

"It's a magick hotspot. One I was sure we wouldn't be interrupted," she and smiled apologetically at me as we got out.

"Ten bucks says we do," I teased.

"Deal."

Jeremy was stunned by the impressive sight of the church even in its current state of decay. "How come no one told me this was here?"

"It's a party spot for the hardcore kids," Bonnie explained before sitting on the grass somewhere between the car and the church.

"I was one of those kids."

"Apparently you weren't hardcore enough," I said and smiled lightly at him as we both sat in a triangle to face Bonnie. "Alright, what do we have to do?"

"Did you bring what I asked?"

I unhooked my locket and handed it to her. "It was the only thing I could find," I said in a light voice.

"Elena, will you tell me what's going on?"

Jeremy's eyes were following my every move as I handed Bonnie the locket and then watched her pull her spell book from her tote bag. "I didn't know what to get you and yesterday I went to see...I went to the graveyard." I was having trouble calling them my parents out loud. I cleared my throat and continued. "If I hadn't been at that party, they would be here for your graduation. So Bonnie is going to do the next best thing and let us communicate with them for a few minutes. Just to say goodbye."

His eyes went wide and I could see them beginning to cloud with tears. Almost instantly my vision became blurry with unshed tears. "Is it dangerous?"

I laughed at his unexpected question and shook my head. "As long as you envision your parents and not mine."

"They're your parents too."

"No, they're not. Not to be mean, but if you don't want to be Isobel, you better think of them as your parents," Bonnie said in a somewhat harsh voice just to convey the importance to him. He nodded and from the look on his face, the got the message loud and clear. She finished setting up and then put out her hands for each of us to grab. "Alright, I'm going to start the spell and you two focus on them and their relationship to you. I'm not going to be able to hear or see anything once I start the spell and I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep the connection so don't get mad if I cut you off mid sentence."

We took her hands and I grabbed Jeremy's other hand, immediately getting images of him and Anna that I did not want. I yanked my hand back and wiped it on my jeans as a force of habit. "You need to focus on them, not Anna."

He grinned. "Sorry. I forget you can read minds."

"I know," I said and grabbed his hand again.

"Nobody say a word until you see them and don't let go of anyone's hands because that will sever the connection immediately."

Jeremy and I nodded as she started chanting. The air shifted all around us and the light became brighter as well. Jeremy and I focused our eyes at the center of the triangle we made and just when bright light began to burn, their faces appeared illuminated in a vibrant gold light. "Mom? Dad?" Jeremy's voice was small, almost like a child in disbelief.

"Hello Jeremy," they both said in unison. Their voices had a strange echo-like effect. "Hello Elena."

The fact that they were speaking in unison was hard enough to get used to. "Hi," I said and smiled even though a tear of guilt ran down my cheek.

"You look so beautiful," she said and her eyes flickered to Jeremy. "You've grown up into such a strong young man."

"I miss you," Jeremy said as tears ran down his face. "I wish you could be there tomorrow."

"So do we," he said and they both beamed at us.

Bonnie's voice had faded to the background but I could feel her strength wavering already. "We don't have much time. We just wanted to say goodbye since we didn't get to," I said in a tight voice, trying not to sob.

Her smile was warm, "Elena, it was not your fault. Our time came and we had to go. If anyone should feel guilty, it's us for not telling you about the adoption."

I nodded and felt a few more tears glide down my face and land on my lap. Bonnie was getting weaker by the second. "I love you and I can't tell you how much I miss you," I breathed, my gaze fixed on them.

The golden light was getting duller and Jeremy said his last goodbyes and just like that, they were gone. Jeremy and I let go of each other's hands almost instantly and I grabbed Bonnie before she sagged to the ground. I laid her down gently and wiped tears from my face. Jeremy was doing the same thing and I moved to hug him. "Thank you Elena. That was the best present anyone could have ever hoped for." He nodded to Bonnie. "I'll thank her when she wakes up. She going to be okay?"

"It took a lot more energy then she realized, but she'll be alright. Want to drop us off at the boarding house?" He nodded as I gathered Bonnie effortlessly in my arms and he grabbed her things before following me to the car.

"I wish I was that strong," he said once we were on our way.

"Eat your meat and you will be."

"That's not what I meant," he said in a serious tone.

"I know," I replied and looked out the window.

When we pulled up to the house, Jeremy took Bonnie's things to the formal living room while I placed her in the guest room upstairs. There was no sign of either Salvatore and that worried me a little. I came back downstairs to see Jeremy looking uncomfortable. "I don't know if anyone told you, but I'm not going to the Grill tomorrow for the party."

"Why not?"

"One, I don't want a repeat of last year. Two, I think it would be best not to have six vampires around that many people don't you? Especially since two of them can't be in the same room together."

I snorted. "Tell me about it. What are you going to do?"

"Alaric and Jenna said we could have a party there. It'll be them, Uncle John, Harper, Pearl, Anna, you, Damon, Matt, Tyler, Stefan, Bonnie, and Caroline if she's back."

"Those are all my friends."

"They're the only people I like. Caroline doesn't know right?" I asked, just to be sure.

He shook his head. "No, she's a little upset when she does come back, but from what Matt said, she still doesn't know."

I hugged him tightly. "Alright, then I will see you tomorrow. I'll call Jenna for details on the party."

"Thanks again Elena," he said and waved as I watched him get in the car and drive off.

I headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water for Bonnie so she would have it when she woke up. I checked my room to see it looking brand new, minus a desk, but still no sign of Damon. I knocked on Stefan's door. Nothing. I shrugged, figuring they were both off venting somewhere and decided to watch TV. The faces of my aunt and uncle were the last thing I saw against my closed lids before I drifted off to sleep from lack of other things to do around the house.

* * *

"You did what?" I snapped. My fists were balled at my sides and my fangs were out. I was angry, but the voice didn't belong to me. It belonged to Katherine.

"I turned Roarke for you."

"Why would you _do_ that?" she whined.

"He cared for you. I thought it would make you happy."

Her jaw dropped and she spun to look at Klaus. She shook her head angrily, brunette locks moving from side to side wildly. "Did it ever occur to you that I wanted to turn to get away from him? He got me pregnant because he thought it would keep me at his side like a pet."

"You were married." Klaus' dark blue eyes were hard and emotionless.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "I don't see what that has to do with it. I did not want that life and I certainly don't want it now. He was a warlock. Do you have any idea what kind of power he has now that he's a vampire too?"

She tried to walk away, but he caught her wrist and kept her there. I could feel her struggling to get free and getting more and more angry when she couldn't. "Then I suggest you do not make him upset."

"For an Original, you're not that bright," she snapped and rubbed her wrist when he let go of her.

"I wouldn't insult me either if I were you."

"This is all a game to you isn't it?"

He smiled then, revealing half-extended canines. "You have been playing games of your own, have you not?"

"Yes, but-"

"I don't tell you what to do, you don't tell me."

She narrowed her eyes, but said nothing more about it. "What do you want Klaus? Or did you just track me down to deliver the good news?" she asked sarcastically.

"I came because it has been centuries since I last saw you. You're doing a fantastic job at living up to your promise of being cruel and bloodthirsty. However, I have noticed that you keep tracking down you bloodline. If you hated your daughter so much, then why are you following your descendents?"

A smile touched her lips as she looked at him with mock innocence. "I have my reasons." She ran a hand through her hair and I noticed the ring on her finger. I tried to focus her eyes on Klaus' hand and was astonished to see no ring at all. His lips moved, but I heard no words as the scene faded into nothing.

* * *

I sat upright on the couch and rubbed at my face to clear away the grogginess I felt. "Why is Bonnie in the guest room?" Damon asked, nearly scaring me half to death.

His brow rose as he noticed my surprise, but said nothing. "She passed out from the spell so I'm keeping her here until I know she's better. Have you checked on her?"

"No, that's Stefan's job."

Stefan was coming down the stairs at that point. "She woke up for a little bit, but then went to sleep again. She's exhausted, but she's okay."

I nodded as the image of Klaus' ringless hand burned into my brain. "Elena?" Damon said as he stepped closer to the couch.

"How long have these been in use?" I asked, holding up my hand and pointed to the ring with my other one.

They both exchanged glances and then shook their heads. "I don't know. Why?" Damon asked.

"Because, Klaus wasn't wearing one in the dream I just had and I would think that the Originals would wear them above others. Katherine had one, but he didn't." I thought for a moment about my previous dream. "Come to think about it, he didn't have one in the first dream either. What does that mean?" I asked. Somehow the thought of the most powerful of vampires sleeping underground while the sun was up sounded stupid.

"Maybe Isobel knew the answer to that," Damon suggested.

I nodded, "I'll ask Alaric about it Friday." I got up and looked at Stefan. "Thank you for looking after Bonnie."

"No problem."

I grabbed Damon's hands and led him upstairs. "Another dream?"

"Yes," I said and buried my head in his chest as we laid in the bed. "I'm getting sick of her dreams too. She's so whiny and full of herself. No wonder you liked her," I teased and he poked me in the side, knowing that it was one of my ticklish spots.

"How did the spell go?" he asked in a not-so-subtle way to change the subject.

"It was perfect. It was good to see them again. Jeremy was happy to have the chance to say goodbye and they apologized for not telling me about the adoption sooner. Which, I'm kind of glad for because the last thing I needed was to find out about Isobel before you came along."

He nodded in agreement, his hand absently running up and down my back. "Very true, but I wouldn't think about it too much. What's done is done." I sighed and closed my eyes, knowing he was right. It wasn't long before I was sleeping again.


	9. Chapter 9

**a/n: Why yes, I was watching Heroes while I wrote this part (for those of you that watch that show, you'll know what I'm talking about)**

NINE

I was very grateful that Stefan and Bonnie were not at the boarding house when it was time to head over to Jenna's. The last thing I needed was an awkward car ride there. Caroline was still out of town and had called me early this morning to tell me she wouldn't be coming to the party. That made me less tense because it meant everyone could relax and be themselves. Jenna had asked me to bring a few things and Damon had helped me load them into the car. I volunteered to make the dessert and after a fake protest from Jenna she agreed to let me. "Why are you bringing all of this if Alaric and Jenna are the hosts?"

"Jenna cannot make a dessert to save her life and she asked me to get the things she forgot. It just turned out to be that she forgot napkins, beverages, and ice."

He shook his head and laughed. "Anything else before we go?"

I looked around then shook my head briefly. "Nope."

We drove to Jenna's at a slow pace and sure enough, a mile within range, the necklace at my throat began to pulse. "No repeats of last year. You are not going outside without one of the other vampires around."

I looked at him and tilted my head. "Telling me I can't do something only makes me want to do it more." He stared at me the way he does when he won't take no for an answer. I sighed and nodded. "Not that I was planning on going outside by myself anyway. And I really don't think anyone should go outside alone." He nodded in agreement and parked the car. "Will you promise me something?"

He twisted in his seat to look at me. His blue eyes sparkling with mischief and humor. "And that would be?"

"Do not pick any fights with your brother."

"Not every fight we have starts with me."

"I know that. I'm going to make sure he does the same thing. This is about Jeremy. I don't want the focus on anything else but him."

He cupped my face and pulled me to him over the consul in the middle of the car to kiss me in a reassuring manner. "I promise to ignore my brother so the focus will be on yours."

I pulled back and smiled. "Thank you."

We got out of the car and started loading our arms with things to carry up to the house. The only problem was it had taken us two trips last time. No matter how strong vampires were, we could still only carry so much with an awkward grip. "Want some help Miss Gilbert?" Harper asked as he appeared next to me. The door to the house was wide open.

"Sure Harper, that would be great," I said and let him carry the cake into the house while Damon and I hurried to get the rest. We were a little early and it turned out that the men were outside drinking while cooking on the grill. Harper joined them after setting the cake on the last bit of empty counter space. "Go," I said and gave Damon a slight push towards the back door as I went to help Jenna finish setting up the table.

"I'm so glad you came."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I meant back to town. This year has been so boring without you," she said as she tucked some hair behind my ears.

I shifted my feet and looked down. "I'm not staying much longer. You know that right?"

She nodded and pretended that it didn't hurt either one of us. "I know. I just wish things had been different."

I knew she meant me not being a vampire and I could only agree with her. There were days where I hated what I was, mostly because it hadn't been my choice to turn. I would have waited a few years. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. "We should have a girls night for all of us before I leave," I suggested.

"All of us?"

"You, me, Bonnie, Pearl, and Anna. Caroline if she's back."

"Are you ever going to tell her?"

I thought about it again as I had been since coming back to town. "Her mother is on the Council and knowing Caroline, she's not the greatest person to tell your dirty little secrets to."

"Yes, but she's dating Matt and that kind of secret can put a strain on a relationship. That's how it was with you and Stefan in the beginning right?"

I sighed knowing she was right and we both looked up as Stefan, Matt, Tyler, and Bonnie walked into the foyer with presents and other party favors in their arms. "The other guys are out back," I told them and then looked at Bonnie. "The girls are in the living room."

She shook her head before setting her things down and then returned to help Jenna and I. "I swear, men think grilling is some sacred ritual," she said, earning a laugh from both of us.

Jenna hugged Bonnie in greeting and they exchanged the usual pleasantries of not having seen someone in awhile. Then she asked the question that made Bonnie and I look away from each other. "Are you seeing anyone?"

Jenna noticed the tension in the room and made an "O" with her mouth. "Stefan and I recently started seeing each other," Bonnie answered in a voice that said it was the first time she had ever said that out loud.

"It's okay, I knew about it," I said to Jenna who was torn between babbling apologies and excusing herself.

"Well, then I'm glad to see the two of you are still like sisters." She looked towards the living room where Anna and Pearl were sitting quietly. "Come on, it's rude to not include them."

I nodded in agreement and we moved our chat to the living room to include the other two. I was actually surprised that the thoughts I were receiving from the others were only general reading of their mood and I relaxed more and enjoyed myself. Pearl and Anna were telling us of their encounters in history and it was truly fascinating. I could hear them speaking, but even then I couldn't help but think about how I would someday be telling some strangers that I had been through in the past four hundred years. "Excuse me," I muttered and went upstairs to my old room. I was glad to find that nothing had been touched since I had left except that the bed was a little crumpled. I touched the bed to smooth it out and stood perfectly still as I saw Jenna clear as day laying down and crying onto my pillows. I stepped back and bumped into the dresser, staring wide-eyed at the bed. "Damon," I whispered, putting enough loudness in my voice that he would be able to hear me.

In seconds, he was closing the door behind me. "Elena? What's wrong?" he asked as he pulled me to him.

"I don't know," I said and stepped back. My eyes were still glued to the bed. "But I'm pretty sure I picked up a new power somewhere along the way."

His brow rose in curiosity. "Please explain."

"I was downstairs listening to Pearl and Anna reminisce about the past and I couldn't help but think that I would be the one telling stories like that in the future. But it also meant that everyone I cared about would be gone, so I excused myself and came up here to just...I don't know, to just be silent. I was going to straighten out the comforter and when I touched it I could see Jenna on it. She was crying on my pillows as she held them. When I stepped back, the bed was empty, but it was definitely something that happened in the past."

"Psychometry," he said although it was mostly to himself as if he were mildly surprised to have remembered the word.

"What?"

He shook his head as if my voice had reminded him he wasn't alone. "Psychometry is the ability some people have that lets them see the past and the future of an object that they touch."

I groaned. "First telepathy, now this?" I narrowed my eyes at him and stood a little straighter. "How do you know all this?"

"I met one before," he said with a grin that told me he knew more about this person than I was going to like. Thankfully, he left it at that.

"So werewolves, witches, vampires, telepaths, and psychometrics? And I happen to be four out of five. Fantastic," I said with heavy sarcasm as I ran a hand through my hair several times just to process this new information. "So, how does this sort of thing happen?"

He shrugged, "I didn't really ask for details, but mostly it's through the offspring of witches and warlocks. Some people get the ability to harness the elements and raw magick itself like Bonnie, others get a special ability."

"Or two or three," I added and smirked. "Let's keep this between us for the moment."

He nodded and I followed him downstairs as Alaric called that dinner was ready. Everyone helped in getting plates dished up and after ten minutes of semi-organized chaos, we were seated around the extended dining room table engaged in conversation mostly revolving around Jeremy and his plans for the future. Since here was an odd number of people at the house, one side had five, the other six, and one person sat at each of the heads. John was at the far end and to his right were Stefan, Bonnie, Matt, Tyler, and Alaric with Jenna at the other head of the table. To John's left was the more crowded side with Jeremy next to him followed by Anna, Pearl, Harper, Damon, and then myself. I was glad the Salvatore brothers were on opposite sides of the table and was able to concentrate on the conversation and not the fight that might break out. About halfway through dinner, I caught a piece of Alaric's thoughts and I looked at him with shock.

He saw me and motioned for me to come with him as he excused us both from the table. "You're what?" I asked the moment we were at the den at the back of the first floor.

"I thought if you heard my thoughts right before, you would give it away. Besides, I already asked Jeremy if it was alright and now I'm asking you."

I stared at him as he showed me the contents of the little ring box he pulled out from the bottom drawer of the desk. "Did you really think I would say no to this?" I asked and hugged him hard.

"Not really, but just in case," he said and we walked back into the dining room. I had the hardest time containing my wild smile as we settled into our seats. Damon's gentle squeeze on my thigh helped clear my mind a little. Until Alaric cleared his throat and got everyone's attention. I had to keep my eyes away from Jenna because I could feel them misting over already. Luckily, everyone else was focused on Alaric as he began his speech. "I just want to congratulate Jeremy again on his successful high school career. There was a lot of ups and downs from both of my former Gilbert students and I wish them the best of luck in their futures." He then turned his attention to Jenna. I could hear her heart skip a beat as her mind processed what was about to happen. "Jenna, you are an amazing person for dropping everything to take care of your niece and nephew. Especially since they are the most unusual of people." There was a little laughter from everyone. "I never thought I would get over Isobel, but seeing you with your family and how you accept everything and make the best out of any situation changed my mind." He got down on one knee and held open the box for her to see. Her breath picked up and her heart fluttered in her chest as tears of joy streamed down her cheeks. "Jenna Sommers, will you marry me?"

The room filled with heavy anticipation as Jenna stared at him with wide, teary eyes. She began nodding her head slowly and then quicker and quicker. "Yes, of course I'll marry you!" she cried and there were cheers across the table.

"So much for keeping the focus on Jeremy," Damon muttered in my ear and I smacked him playfully.


	10. Chapter 10

TEN

I was laying out on the grass in the backyard Friday morning. Damon was gone when I woke up and thought it should have worried me, it didn't. When I realized Stefan was in his room and he wasn't alone, I came out here and laid down. The sky was cloudy and grey, hinting that there would be a storm coming in soon. I didn't believe in bad omens and signs, so I just took it for what it was; a summer storm. There was a wind that was a blowing a bit harder then normal and the feel of it against my skin was helping me keep my thoughts on the good things in life rather than the two people upstairs. I sighed and shifted against the grass. I felt my eyes shut tighter and I took a deep, unnecessary breath. The locket was beside me on the grass mostly because I didn't need another reminder there was another vampire nearby.

My plan to talk to Alaric had been put on hold because of his proposal. Unlike him, I didn't feel like interrupting anything I didn't need to see. I grinned at the memory of that day and felt the rush of embarrassment course through me again. I stiffened slightly as I felt someone walking around back; heard the footsteps thud softly against the ground. I relaxed again when I realized it was just Tyler. "This would be a scary sight if I didn't already know you were dead."

I opened my eyes to look at him, propping myself up on my elbows in the process. "What?"

"You weren't breathing," he said dryly as he came to stand a few feet from me. His hands were shoved in his pockets and from the relaxation I had been in, it was hard to keep his thoughts out.

I rolled my eyes and then narrowed them at him. "Must you always envision me naked when you see me?"

He grinned in that wolfish manner. "Take it as a compliment."

I shook my head, giving him a light smile. "Just be thankful I can hear your thoughts and not Damon."

"What are you doing out here?" he asked after a moment of silence which was filled with his contemplation of whether a fight between he and Damon would be worth it just to kiss me at the moment.

My gaze flickered towards the house briefly. "Just waiting for Damon to get back. What are you doing here?"

He half turned to look up at the house and I could see his nose twitch as he inhaled. "Why are you letting it get to you? You're with Damon anyway." That last sentence was said in a somewhat attempt to be a fact and not a whine. "I'm sure it feels the same way when Stefan sees you with Damon."

It hurt, but he was right. That smug smile on his face told me he knew it too. I laid back on the grass and closed my eyes. "There's beer in the fridge."

He laughed. "Trying to get me drunk are you? Did you get those ear plugs I suggested?"

I smiled. "If you get too drunk, I will bring you home myself." He began to walk towards the back door when I added, "If you see my phone, will you bring it for me?"

"Sure," he replied and I was alone again. I shook my head at his blatant suggestiveness and knew it was just his way, amplified by his new animal magnetism and couldn't help but feel sorry for any human girl he had in his sights. As long as he never took it too far, I would leave him alone.

My sudden good mood died instantly as the air shifted and I was on my feet in seconds. I peered around the edges of the forest behind the house and I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I heard something to my right and took three vampire-quick steps in that direction and halted at the sight of Roarke. His hazel eyes were full of hurt and awe as he looked at me. "Katherine," he whispered. He had the faintest trace of a Scottish accent that rippled with an age older than I could determine.

"I'm not Katherine," I said defiantly.

He didn't seem to hear me. I sniffed the air and was confused. I did not sense vampire. What I sensed was warlock. His blood was similar to Bonnie's but there was a distinct difference. He definitely fed from a vampire recently and try as I might, I could not read his thoughts. "Katherine..." he breathed as he stepped forward.

I tried to step away from him and found that I couldn't move. There was something very, very wrong with this man. He wasn't vampire, yet he was immortal. The only word I had ever heard him say outside my dreams was Katherine and from the tone it just sounded as if he were being controlled, right down to his use of magick. I struggled against the invisible barrier behind me and began to panic as he continued to approach. He reached out to touch my face and I screamed. In the back of my mind I knew I was his descendent and because I looked like Katherine...that thought didn't sit well with me. "Back. Off," I hissed and pushed forward with my body to throw him off balance.

It was like slamming myself into a brick wall. He was staring at me with pure concentration and I began to feel a pressure building slowly in my head. My breathing picked up as my vision began to blur. My ears popped painfully and I could feel the blood streaming down my face as my I could feel my skull beginning to crack under the pressure. "Stop," came a forceful voice somewhere near us.

I dropped to the ground and curled into the fetal position. My head was pounding and the pain was almost unbearable. The only thing keeping me conscious was the fact that I knew if I passed out now, I was as good as dead. And I wouldn't be coming back this time. A howl cut through the air, but neither one of them moved as if they had heard it. "No," I chocked out as someone crouched before me and lifted my face up so he could see me. I waited for him to kill me and Damon swirled around my mind. Tears mixed with the blood on my face and landed on my hair. "Kill me," I pleaded, the anticipation was too much.

It was definitely Klaus. His hair was still kept short, although it was longer than I had seen in the last dream. His dark blue eyes were full of amusement. "I am not going to kill you. Not yet," he promised and gently moved his thumb across my face. He brought the bloodied appendage to his mouth and closed his eyes as if savoring the taste. He stood and smiled. It was horrific and beautiful at the same time. He turned to Roarke and in an instant, they were gone. Unable to hold on any longer, I gave in and passed out.

* * *

I came awake to something licking my face. I smiled, thinking it was Damon, and when I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the sight of a wolf standing over me, tongue hanging out the side of its mouth, panting ever so lightly. My smile died and I pushed him back a little. "Tyler," I muttered and immediately stopped trying to get to my feet for two reasons. One, Tyler refused to move from his protective stance over me. Two, pain ripped through my body and I cried out. Tyler let out a bark and I groaned as the sudden sharp noise tore through me. "Bad dog," I said lightly even though there was a roughness to my voice.

He growled, but I swore his muzzle turned into a smile for a brief moment. "Elena!" I heard two different voices call out. I heard the soft thud of a pair of feet and a heavier, clumsier footfall of the second pair. I shut my eyes as I caught the scent of Bonnie and Stefan headed my way.

Tyler licked my face once more and moved away from me the moment Stefan and Bonnie came to kneel by my side. I couldn't even imagine what I looked like, but they didn't seem to care much about that. "What happened?" Bonnie asked, tears clouding her eyes.

I was about to answer when Stefan put a hand gently over my mouth. "Don't talk. Bonnie, I need you to-"

"Here," came Tyler's voice as he came into view. He tossed three blood bags in Stefan's direction and I looked away as he finished zipping up the fly to his jeans. There was blood around his mouth; my blood.

"Drink," Stefan demanded as he sliced a bag open with his nail and poured it down my throat. All three of them looked away as I drank greedily from the bag. Stefan opened the other one and then the last one. By the time I was done, the pain in my head seemed to be dull enough that I was able to sit up without much of an effort. Stefan put the empty pouches down on the ground and swallowed deeply at the few drops of blood left in them.

His attention focused back to me as Bonnie asked, "Now can you tell me what the hell just happened?"

"Where's Damon?" I asked, my voice was hoarse. I coughed to clear my throat of that parched feeling that still lingered. I had lost more blood then I had just replaced.

Everyone exchanged glances. "I'll call him," Tyler said and went back to the house.

"Elena," Stefan's voice said as he pulled me into his lap so I could sit up without wanting to fall backwards. His voice was smooth as if he were trying to compel me into talking to him. "I need you to tell me what happened."

"Roarke and Klaus were here," I said in a shaky voice.

Bonnie reached forward and grabbed my hand. "Tyler came into the house to get beer. I was getting water and he said you were outside. I started talking to him about Jenna and Alaric's engagement and then we both sensed something was wrong. He ran outside to find you and I just sat there and did nothing. Stefan and I didn't look for you until we heard you scream. Did Tyler get there in time?" she asked. She was blabbering; something she only did when she was extremely worried. Which did not leave me with a good feeling.

"No," I answered. "Klaus stopped Roarke from killing me."

I didn't want to talk about it. I wanted Damon. They both seemed to sense that I wasn't going to say anymore about it and we both looked up as Tyler came running back to us. "He's on his way."

I closed my eyes and sagged against Stefan in the relief that Damon was alright. Stefan's hands stroked my hair and whispered something over and over again. I wasn't listening to him, but the withdrawal I felt from Bonnie only a foot or so away from us told me it wasn't something he should be saying. The next thing I knew, I was being lifted bridal style and opened my eyes to see Damon carrying me back to the boarding house. I mouthed thank you at the three of them as I leaned my head on his shoulder.

He was cursing in several different languages as he set me down in front of the large claw-foot tub in his bathroom. The cold tile made me shiver as he carefully removed my clothes after turning on the water. Soon, the scent of warm vanilla filled my nose as the room became steamy from the heat of the water. He lifted me and then lowered me back into the pleasantly hot water. I watched him as he cleaned my face and couldn't help but think of this as strange behavior for him. I had known him for two years, been with him for one, and even though he had his sweet, tender moments...this still seemed strange. Wonderful, but strange. "What happened?" he asked after awhile.

My hand was playing in the slightly bloodied water on its own volition. "I need blood," I whispered, my voice still coarse and scratchy.

"Be right back," he said.

In under thirty seconds, he had an arm full of blood bags and kept handing them to me until I began to feel my skull heal completely. He smiled, knowing I was out of the danger zone and used the washcloth to wipe the leftover blood from my mouth. I told him what happened after Tyler had gone into the house up until the point he had found us in the woods. His eyes had gone dark in a level of anger I had never seen before as I told him what Roarke did and the tension in his shoulders as I repeated Klaus' words. "There is something wrong with Roarke. He's not vampire, but he's not human either," I said after a moment of silence. My voice was back to normal now.

"Impossible," he said, his mind still trying to process that bit of information.

"Apparently not."

I pulled my knees up and they stuck out of the water. I laced my hands together around them and looked at him, my cheek resting against the cool edge of the tub. "I shouldn't have left you alone."

"You were hunting," I said in a voice full of understanding. "Right?" I asked in a lighter voice.

I unlaced my fingers and shifted in the water so that I could rest my hand on his arm. "No, I was talking to Sheriff Forbes."

"Why?"

"To see if she was aware of any vampires in the area recently. Then your father showed up. She got called out for something minor and we started talking." There was something his tone; something I was going to like even less then being attacked by Klaus and Roarke.

"Just tell me," I said and squeezed his arm reassuringly.

His eyes bored into mine and were filled with sorrow. "I was too busy talking about you that I didn't notice Caroline listening in the hallway."

My brows furrowed in disbelief. "How did you not know Caroline was there? You always know."

A sly smile touched his face and I felt a little better. "I knew someone was listening, but we weren't talking about anything that couldn't be explained away easily. It was just something I said that triggered her memory."

"Did you tell her about everything?"

He shook his head. "I told her to go home, forget what she heard from me, and to call you as soon as possible." He reached out and cupped my face gently. "I should have been here."

I turned my head lightly to kiss the inside of his palm. "They didn't kill me because they're not all too convinced I'm _not_ Katherine. You, they would have killed in a heartbeat. Tyler, Stefan, and Bonnie were here. All that matters is that I'm fine," I said and kissed his hand again before moving to stand up.

It was as if the blood I had just consumed had kicked in and I swayed on my feet. Damon put his hands on my shoulders to balance me. He lifted me up and before I knew it, I was laying on the bed and the sheets were wet the moment I touched them. Damon crawled into bed next to me and held me to him, uncaring that half of his clothes were now drenched as well. He kissed my forehead. "I'm going to kill them even if it's the last thing I do," he promised me.

I shivered from the mix of air and water on my skin and he covered me with a blanket. "Only if it's the last thing we do together," I mumbled and I drifted to sleep to finish healing.


	11. Chapter 11

ELEVEN

The soft pitter-patter of rain on the window filled my ears as I started to wake up. I gently turned my head towards the sound and opened my eyes to see the storm outside. I just laid there for a moment and watched the outside world before the door to the bathroom opened and the bed sank beside me. I adjusted so that I was staring at Damon. "How do you feel?"

I thought for a moment, doing a mental check on my internal status. "A little groggy, but I think I'm okay. How long have I been out?"

"It's almost six," he returned as he swept the hair from my face. His hand drifted down and stopped at the hollow of my throat. "Where's the locket?" he asked with a frown.

As a reaction, my hand flew to my throat as well and I put my head on the pillow as I swore. "I took it off when I was laying in the grass."

"Why were you out there anyway?"

"Stefan and Bonnie were upstairs so I decided to get out and not eavesdrop."

He nodded and then moved to get something off of his nightstand. "Here, your aunt called earlier. As did Caroline."

I took my phone from him and blanched at the amount of missed calls. "Did you tell Caroline to not talk to anyone until she talked to me?"

He stilled for a moment and then grinned. "I might have."

"Could you fix that for me? I'm going to tell her, but not right now."

He nodded as I dialed Jenna's number and waited patiently while it rang. "Hey, I'm so glad you called. Are you busy?"

Her good mood was not what I needed at the moment. "No."

"Perfect. Come over as soon as you can?" It was phrased as a question, but it sounded more like a demand.

"Sure. I'll be there soon," I said and she hung up on me. "She was in an awfully good mood."

Damon was smirking. "Well, she got engaged last night and she's been with Alaric all day."

I looked at him with horror. "Thank you for that," I said sarcastically and slowly got to my feet. As I pulled out from under the blanket, the draft in the room reminded me that I was still naked. I walked to the closet and began to dress. "While I'm at Jenna's, do you think you could warn everyone to be on the lookout?"

"I'm going with you," he said from right behind me as I fumbled with the hook on my bra.

He hooked it for me, running his fingers along my spine and planting soft kisses on my shoulders. I grinned as one of his hands slid down my abdomen and dipped behind the front of my panties. "I'm supposed to be getting dressed," I protested feebly.

"Tell me to stop and I'll leave you alone," he muttered against my skin. His breath made me shiver as I bit my lip from the feel of his fingers on me. I put my hand on his arm to encourage him instead of push him away and his laughter rumbled over both of us. "Thought so."

I groaned as he kissed his way up my throat and nuzzled the spot at the base of my neck. My eyes shut and I could feel my legs beginning to tremble from his touch. He added a second finger and moved his hand in a thrusting motion to which my hips responded in a matched pace. "Damon," I breathed and shuddered from the feel of his fangs sliding into my skin. At the second pull of my blood, I shook and dug my nails into his arm as my release came. His tongue ran over the bite marks before he stepped aside and turned me to kiss me deeply.

"Damon? Elena?" Stefan called from the door.

We both looked at each other and Damon licked his fingers around a fanged smirk before heading back to the bedroom to greet Stefan. "Yes little brother?"

"John and Alaric are here," he said in a tight voice, knowing he had interrupted something.

"We'll be right down," Damon replied and I heard the door shut. I pulled on a new pair of underwear and moved to the bathroom to clean up before choosing the rest of my outfit.

"I should call Jenna. I don't feel like leaving the house tonight."

He nodded from his spot on the bed as he watched me get dressed. "Good choice."

I picked up my phone and dialed Jenna again. "Hey Aunt Jenna. Can I take a raincheck for tonight?"

"What happened?" she asked, her good mood instantly vanished from the tone in my voice.

"I don't want to talk about it now. Just know I'm alright and I will tell you. Are you busy tomorrow?"

"I can make us lunch at two tomorrow?"

"Sounds good. I'm sorry I couldn't make it today. I'll see you tomorrow," I said and hung up after her goodbye. "Now will you take care of Caroline?" I asked, looking at Damon.

"After we attend our guests."

I sighed and walked downstairs with him. John, Alaric, Stefan, Bonnie, and Tyler were all seated in the living room. John stood up the moment he saw me and moved incredibly fast to put his hands on my shoulders. "Are okay?"

I nodded, feeling a bit strange that he was this open about his concern for my life. Apparently the talk we had had changed the dynamic in our relationship. However, the last thing I needed was for him to become overprotective. He must have realized his display of emotion and stepped back while clearing his throat. "My head still hurts, but otherwise, I'm alright." John took his seat on the arm of the couch while Damon and I sat on the floor in front of the fireplace. I used Damon as a backrest and he put an arm around me as I told everyone, in detail, the events of this morning. I started with my decision to go outside just to get it over with so no one would ask me in the end. "Honestly, if Tyler hadn't found me in the back, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be having this discussion right now."

I felt Damon stiffen as his inner turmoil seeped into my head. It was odd considering I had never been able to read his thoughts before. Stefan and Bonnie looked at the floor and I could feel the guilt radiating off of them. "Can you explain what it was that Roarke did?" Alaric asked just to break the tension.

"It was like having my nose plugged and being forced to exhale through it. I think I heard my skull crack and I lost a lot of blood."

"It was all over the woods," Tyler agreed and I met his gaze. He was torn between smiling at the fact that he had had some and fright that Damon would kick his ass.

"I had more than enough to replace what I lost, but it still hurt which means Roarke caused more than just physical damage," I added. My eyes landed on Alaric and it sparked a vague memory that I had to ask him something. "I know you showed me what Isobel found on Originals, but have you ever heard of one not wearing a ring?" I looked between him and John. "Do either of you know anyone that might have the answer to that?" I turned my head to look at Damon and then back to look at Stefan. "Do you?"

They were all silent for a moment as they thought. "I might," Damon said, his voice vibrating through me. Stefan nodded in agreement and I wondered if they were talking about the same person.

"I want everyone to be on full alert and I need you all to know Roarke is not a vampire. But he's not human either. I want the humans left out of this, with the exception of you two," I said and gestured to Alaric and John.

"But-" Bonnie started in confusion.

"You're a witch, you don't count as human," Tyler explained.

I nodded. "Right. No Jenna, Jeremy, or Matt. I don't care how much they whine or how much they hate us, but when the time comes, they are to have nothing to do with this. One of you has to tell Anna to keep her mouth shut." _And her veins closed_ I added silently to myself. I sighed, yet another person I would have to talk to. I got to my feet and all eyes were on me. "Damon, I need you to tell Caroline to go back to her fathers and make her forget that she ever heard you earlier. Stefan, I need you to talk to Matt about this and explain why I need him to back off. Alaric, I'm going to talk to Jenna tomorrow. John, I want you to tell the other vampires what happened and tell Anna I need to talk to her."

"I'll talk to Jeremy too," he said.

"And where are you going?" Damon asked as the rest of them had gotten to their feet as well.

"Tyler, Bonnie, and I are staying here," I said firmly.

Damon grinned as he put an arm around my shoulders. "Spoken like a true queen." To Tyler and Bonnie he said, "Make sure she stays inside."

They nodded and in a few minutes the house was ours. "Where are you going?" Bonnie asked as I headed for the back door.

"I need to find my necklace. If something happens to me, the last thing I need is to have no connection with Damon," I said and then they were both following me.

Because it was raining and dark with clouds, the lights on the exterior of the house was no good to Bonnie's eyes. "I'll wait inside," she said and went back in.

I turned to Tyler and folded my arms. "And how do you feel now that you've had more than your fair share of vampire blood?"

He grinned. "Incredible."

"Thank you. For waking me up."

"I'm only sorry I didn't get there sooner."

"I'm not. He would have killed you without thinking twice. He wants something from me and its only a matter of time before he collects." I had been scanning the yard and came up with nothing. "It's not here."

"How can you be sure?"

I moved to stand in the spot where I had been laying down. "I can smell my own scent and I can still see the blades of grass bent from when I laid on them." I crouched and pointed to a patch of grass. "This is where I put it down."

"Well, I'm pretty sure that it didn't walk off on its own."

I shook my head as I stood up and looked at him with a seriousness that he caught immediately. "Klaus has it. I'm sure of it."


	12. Chapter 12

TWELVE

My head began to pound in what could only be described as a pleasant way as I slowly woke from my dream. My hands were fisted in the sheets and I moaned involuntarily. I felt a spasm of pleasure as I opened my eyes slightly to see Damon waking me up in his most favorite way. His eyes locked with mine and he smirked. My head ground against the pillow as the feel of his hands and tongue on me drove me crazy. One of his hands slid up my shirt and began kneading one of my breasts. I groaned again and whispered his name softly as I came for him. He kept going until he was sure that I was done and then kissed his way up my body until he claimed my lips. "Morning," I breathed.

He grinned as he moved to lay beside me, his front pressing against my side. He played with my hair as he talked. "For a vampire, you sleep more than a human."

I shrugged as I turned to face him, and as slowly as I could, I slid over him so that I was straddling his hips. I could feel him hardening beneath his boxers and rotated my hips. His lips parted to indicate he liked it. I grinned as I leaned down and kissed along his jaw line. "I don't get to sleep long because _someone_ always interrupts."

His response was to kiss me hard. I pulled up and reached down to free him from his boxers by simply tearing them away. I lowered myself on top of him and we both groaned in ecstasy. His hands went to my hips and dug in as I rode him. My head tipped back and my hair flowed around my shoulders and down my back, teasing my skin as it moved. I leaned forward to angle myself differently and my hands fell on his chest. He moved so that I was beneath him and a loud moan escaped my lips as he brought both of my legs up to rest them on his shoulder. He braced himself at my side with one hand as the other reached between us and traced circles across my clitoris. It was something he had never done before and I cried out as I came after only a few touches. He grinned and moved his hand faster than my eyes could follow and hand both of my hands in his grasp above my head. I smiled a second before we were off the bed and I was laid out on top of his dresser. His hands squeezed my breasts as he thrust away, my legs firmly wrapped around his waist. I put my hands over his at the feel of both our releases and the moment my hand touched his ring, my high was cut short.

There, before my eyes, was a vision of Damon and Katherine in bed together. She was riding him as I had been and her fangs were out. The dress that she was in hid their bodies from what was going on, but the sleeves had fallen from her shoulders to expose her breasts. Damon's skin was flush and darker than it as now. Had it not been for that dress, I would have thought it was me. She was smirking down at him and he was looking at her with an expression of pure desire. "Elena?" Damon asked, snapping me back to reality.

He had half collapsed on top of me and the expression on his face was one of concern. I slid off the dresser and shook my head. "It's nothing," I lied and headed straight for the shower.

"You're lying," he said as he followed me, leaning against the sink while I waited for the water to warm up.

"Yes."

I looked at him and was surprised by the shame in his eyes as he stared at his ring, twisting it around his finger out of habit. "What did you see?"

"Katherine," I said as I stepped into the shower. "And you."

He didn't have to ask what they were doing; the tone in my voice said everything. He simply nodded. "That was a long time ago."

I nodded as I stood under the spray of the water and closed my eyes in an attempt to relax. "I know. I'm not angry at you, I'm angry at this new power," I said and opened my eyes to see him standing right before me. "It could have shown me a number of things, but it chose that."

His eyes hardened and I looked away. "Elena-"

"Get out," I said flatly and after a second of indecision he obliged. I felt like crying, but instead, I flipped the inner switch that shut off my emotions and took the fastest shower of my life. I was not going to draw any conclusions about this new power until I did my research, but I was willing to bet my undead life on it that I saw what I saw because he was subconsciously thinking about it. I sighed as I dried off and then headed to the closet and dressed in whatever I saw first. I did my make-up and left my hair to air dry before I made my way down to the living room.

Damon was watching TV, a rather large glass of scotch in his hand, and to my surprise Tyler was on the other side of the couch. I reached into the fridge to make myself a glass of blood and Tyler turned to look at me while Damon kept his eyes glued to the TV. Tyler was completely confused at the tension in the air and kept looking between us. After I cleaned the glass, I grabbed my purse from the table by the door. "I'll be at Jenna's," I announced to no one in particular and walked out.

I cursed under my breath as I realized I hadn't grabbed Damon's keys. Vampire speed it was. Just before I was about to go, the door opened and Tyler was there. "What's going on? You two have a fight?"

"Something like that. If I were you, I would not say anything to piss him off."

He grinned, trying to determine if I was in a joking mood. "Looks like you've already done that." I glared at him and he took a step back. "Sorry. Should you be going by yourself?"

"I'm safe at Jenna's," I answered and knowing it was rude, I sped off, leaving him there by himself.

I could hear Jeremy yelling before I reached the house. It was more of an argument than an attack so I continued at my current pace. He was storming out the door when I reached the driveway. "What the hell Elena? This is _my_ life!"

Anna closed the door as she joined us. "I'm sorry. I just told him what you said."

I took a deep breath and nodded. I was angry at Damon, but I was determined not to take that out on Jeremy. I looked to Anna. "Is Jenna in there?" She nodded. "Tell her I'll be right there, I need to talk to Jeremy alone."

She nodded again and went back inside. Jeremy was fuming. His breathing was deep and his fists were balled at his side. "This is my choice Elena. You can't tell me what I can and can't do."

"I know that," I said and sat down on the first step. He might be angry, but for whatever reason, my head was still hurting. I patted the spot next to me and he hesitated before setting down. "I'm not saying you can never be a vampire Jer. I'm saying that I want you and Anna to make this decision because it's right for you. Not because someone killed you while you were protecting me. I want it to be a choice you make for the right reasons; not because it's the only way I'll ever see you again."

His face softened as he finally realized what I meant. He grinned, "So you want it to be like giving away my virginity. All about the timing."

I smiled lightly and pushed his leg gently. "Never say that again," I teased and then nodded. "But yes. Does that make sense?"

"So it's not because you want this life to yourself right?"

I nodded. "Right. All I'm asking is that you don't die fighting for me. I don't want anyone to die fighting for me."

I was looking down at the ground and he noticed something was off. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it Jer," I said quietly and I could see him nodding out of my peripheral.

"One last question and then I'll leave you alone. Would you mind if I changed because I wanted to be stronger for you? So that I could help kick Klaus' ass?"

I looked at him and grabbed his chin. "As long as it is your choice and nobody killed you, I could live with that. Just know that it takes awhile to get used to being a vampire. It's not instant; there's a lot involved with the change."

"Anna's been telling me."

I nodded and stood up. "I should have told you this last night, but I didn't want to see anyone."

"It's alright," he said as he moved to open the front door for me. He signaled for Anna and they both waved before leaving.

"You're here early," Jenna said as I entered the kitchen. It was around noon according to the clock on the oven. Her eyes were inspecting me to make sure everything was okay meaning Alaric had said something. She noticed that I was studying her and she sighed. "Alaric came over from your house and I was a little upset you blew me off and from his reaction, I knew something was up. He told me after I more or less forced it out of him."

"I was going to tell you about it today," I said truthfully.

She pulled me to her and I held her as if letting go meant the end of everything. "I thought vampires were supposed to hunt people, not other vampires," she whispered and I pulled away laughing.

"If it wasn't for my being Katherine's look alike, none of this would be happening." _And I sure as hell wouldn't be with Damon_. My eyes darkened at that, but I shook it off and smiled for Jenna's benefit. "Enough about me. You're the one who got engaged," I said excitedly and studied the ring on her finger.

She beamed with pride and joy as tears welled in her eyes. "Is that weird for you?"

I stared at her before shaking my head slowly. "No?"

"He was technically your step-dad." That was food for thought. Alaric, my teacher, was indeed my step-father by default. Jenna, my aunt, was not related to me at all. My brother was not my cousin; the uncle I hated was my father. My mother had been a psychotic vampire who had slept with my boyfriend. The parents that raised me were actually my aunt and uncle. I pinched the bridge of my nose and smiled.

I shrugged, "I only know his as my teacher."

She smiled even brighter and then reached under the island and put a stack of magazines on the counter. "Elena Gilbert," she said and I laughed mentally at the irony of the only thing real about my life was my name. "Will you be my maid of honor?"

All bad feelings immediately disappeared at her question. "I would be very offended if you hadn't asked me. Of course!" I said and hugged her again in a semi-tight hug.

After we had settled down and had flipped through seven bridal magazines for ideas, she started making lunch and I helped her. "I've been thinking."

I grinned, but kept my eyes on chopping the onions. "That doesn't sound good."

She made a face before adding the chicken to the skillet. "What if we moved to another state?"

I thought about it and shrugged. "If you want. Jeremy's going to be in college so you and Alaric could do whatever."

She was silent and I realized that was not exactly what she meant. "I was talking about all of us. We could move where no one knew us and start over. I don't like it when you're not here and I'm pretty sure Jeremy's going to turn too from the conversations I keep overhearing."

I put the knife down and turned to look at her. "Jenna..." I said and shook my head. "As hard as it may feel for us not to be here, you can't imagine what it's like for me, knowing that everyone I care about will be dead quicker than I can imagine. The less I'm around all of you, the easier it is not to feel that loss."

She nodded, but bit her lip to keep from arguing. "I know, I just...I promised Miranda I would take care of you." _I've completely failed_, she thought.

I put my arms around her and laid my head on her shoulder. "You have done nothing but take care of Jeremy and I. You haven't failed either one of us."

She stepped away and smiled. "I forget you can do that."

We didn't say anything more until we sat at the island to eat. "Where do you want to have the wedding? We should pick a location and then decide on a theme."

She thought about it for a moment. "There's the church your parents got married in."

I laughed softly and put my hand on her arm. "No, I meant you can choose anywhere in the world."

Her eyes widened and then she shook her head. "I don't make that much."

"Damon and I will take care of it," I assured her. "Just pick and leave the financials to us."

"Have you asked him about this?"

"I'm already stuck with him for eternity so there's no need for us to get married. So we'll use the money on you instead."

"You really think he'd go all out?"

I stared at her and we both smiled. "I have expensive tastes and he knows it."

"Ask him first and then we'll talk," she agreed and we spent the rest of the afternoon talking about all things wedding.

* * *

When I got back to the boarding house, Damon was leaning against the kitchen counter with another glass of scotch in his hand. I put my purse on the table and raised myself up on the island to face him. "I'm not angry with you," I said flatly after a few minutes of silence.

He snorted and took a long drink. "Could have fooled me."

"I saw you and Katherine and it made me lash out at you. I just wasn't expecting to see _that_."

He met my eyes then and pushed himself off of the counter and stood between my knees. The glass of scotch was now on the counter behind him. "To be clear, I was _not_ thinking of her. She does not have to do with anything involving you and I."

I put my hand on his sides and pulled him closer. "I know that, it just startled me."

He kissed me sweetly and it made me feel like an idiot for ever having doubted his feelings. He drew his lips away, but kept his forehead pressed against mine. "How was the chat with your aunt?"

I bit my lip and smiled as I leaned back, supporting myself on my elbows. "I might have told her you would pay for a destination wedding."

His brow arched. "Did you now?"

I grinned. "The good news is she only wants her closest friends and family around."

"That's only what, fourteen people?"

I mentally counted everyone in my head and nodded. "Exactly."

"What do I get in return?"

I sat up and looked him in the eye as I started unbuckling his belt. I kept staring at him as my fingers undid his fly and then reached down to cup him. He wet his lips and I noticed his hands tightened on the counter. "Something like this for all eternity," I breathed and before I knew it, we were making damn good use of that counter. And no one interrupted us this time.


	13. Chapter 13

**a/n: please do not be mad after you read this chapter, there are reasons behind it that will be revealed later :) let me know what you think about it either way. I have decided that I'm probably going to do a fourth installment because I came up with an amazing idea that I just couldn't pass up, but I'm not done with this one yet so don't worry! Thanks to all of you who review or add me to your alerts! It has been my motivation to update so frequently. :)**

THIRTEEN

I stared at the phone on my nightstand, contemplating whether or not to make the call. "You have enough powers don't you think?" Damon asked as he came out of the bathroom.

"What?" I asked as I tried to hold back my comment about him getting all dolled up to go on his "date" with Alaric and John.

He glared at me, knowing I wanted to say something. "Are you trying to get the phone to move like a telekinetic?"

"Maybe."

He held up a finger at me. "Do _not_ say it," he said, referring to his "date."

"But you look so cute," I said and gave a fake scream as he tackled me onto the bed. "I don't want to mess up your outfit."

His response was to nip at my neck and I shuddered as pleasure coursed through me. A reminder that I hadn't eaten all day. "This was your doing," he whispered as he traced my ear with his tongue.

"You could have said no," I said and slid out from underneath him. "You should have friends other than me so I can get some peace and quiet."

He pretended to look hurt. "And what are you going to do while I'm gone?"

"I'm working up the nerve to have Anna and Bonnie over."

His brow rose with playful curiosity. "Maybe I will stay home."

I laughed and hit him on the shoulder. The necklace around his neck moved against his skin and I pulled it out. "Do you mind if I keep this here tonight?" I asked.

"Why?"

I was careful not to touch the ring as I took it off of him. "My locket is gone and if Klaus does have it, I don't want him to be able to track you. Plus, this belonged to Katherine so I might be able to find some answers from it."

He nodded carefully and checked his watch. "I'm going to be late." I opened my mouth to say something and he put his hand over it. "Shut up."

I kissed his fingers and we both got up. "Have fun," I said in a sing-song voice.

He muttered something in Italian and then moved to the door. "Be careful," he warned and then was gone.

I smiled and picked up my phone to call Anna. If she was going to be in Jeremy's life, I would have to get to know her on a more friendly level. Besides, if she was going to turn him, he would need a ring and I was going to make sure he had one. It was the only thing I could do for him. She answered on the third ring. "Elena?"

"Hi Anna. Are you busy?"

My enhanced hearing could hear Jeremy in the background and my nose wrinkled as I shoved the mental pictures away. "Sort of," she said wearily, knowing full well I could hear what was going on.

"Well, when you're done, could you come over?"

She paused. "Why?" Her voice had that tone of someone trying to hide the fact that they were concerned. I was glad she was trying to keep Jeremy out of it just in case it was something bad.

"Would you believe me if I said some sort of girl's night?"

Her laugh made me pull the phone from my ear. When I didn't say anything, she cleared her throat. "Oh, you're serious. Um, give me a half hour?"

It was my turn to clear my throat and she mumbled an apology. "A simple 'I'll call you later' would have been enough. Bye," I said and hung up, glad the conversation had ended on a good note. Now to call Bonnie. She answered quickly. "Hi."

"Hey, what's up?"

"Would you mind coming over?"

"I'm almost done with my shift. I'll be over after that?"

"Sounds good. Oh, could you bring your spell book?"

She laughed lightly. "I should just assume when you call, I should have it handy."

"That's not what I meant," I said, suddenly feeling horrible.

"It's okay Elena. Really," she said with a positive note in her voice as she tried to reassure me. "Be there soon," she added and hung up.

I put my phone in my pocket and headed downstairs. Tyler and Stefan were playing a video game. I sat down on the chair closest to Tyler because the chair near Stefan could only be reached by walking in front of them. Vampire or not, my chances against the both of them would not be good if I did that. "How long have you been playing?" I asked.

"About the time we woke up," Stefan answered without breaking concentration. Boys.

"Have either one of you eaten?"

Tyler hit the pause button angrily and turned towards me. "Why do women always insist on talking while we play?"

I smirked as I stood up, holding out my arms as a mock surrender. "I'm sorry I interrupted your alone time."

He threw a pillow at me. "Not cool Gilbert, not cool," he muttered as he went back to playing the game.

"What I meant to say was that the two of you have thirty minutes to finish up and get out."

They looked at me with the same expression and it caused their avatar to die and end the game for the moment. "I live here," Stefan said defensively.

I nodded, "I understand, but I need a girl's night. Bonnie and Anna are already coming over and I don't want any males in the house."

Tyler's face matched Damon's perfectly. "Maybe a male in the middle is exactly what you need," he said suggestively.

I gave him a sideways glance and shook my head. "If I didn't let Damon stay, why would I let you?"

He nodded in defeat. "Touche."

"Thank you both," I said as I brought them both a beer.

"How are you feeling?" Stefan asked as he put up his controller and let Tyler play solo.

"Better," I answered after a moment to think.

"You look a little pale," he stated after giving me a once over. And he wondered why I avoided him.

"I think I need fresh blood to heal whatever damage was done. The bagged stuff is definitely not helping."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Tyler was growling at the fact we were talking over him so we got up and went to the formal living room by the front door. "My skull cracked. I know because I heard it and I felt it. The amount of blood I had healed it, but there's still something wrong. I can feel the tension in my head every now and then."

"Does Damon know?"

I nodded carefully. I was pretty sure I had mentioned this to him. It had only been three days since the incident. Plenty of time to talk. On the other hand, we had spent plenty of time _not_ talking... I cleared my throat and nodded firmly. "Yes, of course he knows."

"I could go hunting with you," he offered and then took a chug of his beer to make it seem casual instead of awkward.

I shook my head and smiled. "I need human blood Stefan, not animal blood."

"I know," he said tightly.

"And I'm not going to do that to you. It would be like dangling a drink in front of a recovering alcoholic."

He stepped forward and I straightened up. I had no idea what his intentions were and I was spared from ever having to find out thanks to Tyler. "I'm done. You can come back now," he called and I practically ran from to the living room. "Where is Damon anyway?"

"John and Alaric wanted to get drinks and they wanted him to come along," I said, not trying to hold back my smile.

Before he could stop himself, Tyler mused, "Your father, your mother's husband, and your boyfriend all hanging out together. Must be weird."

I glared at him and he straightened up. "Why thank you Tyler. I had not realized that before," I said dryly.

He flashed me a grin. "My bad."

"So, we're agreed, you're both going to disappear when the girls get here?" I asked, getting directly to the point.

Stefan finished his beer and tossed it into the trash. He grabbed his jacket from near the door and nodded. "I need to feed," he said and then was gone.

"And you?" I asked Tyler.

"I guess I could call Matt. By the way, he's really mad at you. You should talk to him."

"I know," I sighed and sank back into the couch. He was watching me intently and I stared at him in return. "What?"

"Stefan's right, you do look a little pale."

I grinned, "Well-"

"Pale-r," he corrected himself.

"I'll feed with Anna. It can be our bonding moment."

He looked thoughtful and his thoughts were pictures of different scenarios with Anna and I bonding; each of them involving a kiss at one point or another. I threw a pillow at him and he snapped out of his fantasy. "Sorry," he muttered even though he clearly wasn't. He rubbed his hands on his knees and sat on the edge of the couch. "Okay, I know it's a little dangerous out there for you right now, but why don't you take some of my blood for now until Damon can take you hunting?"

"No," I said flatly and got up.

"I took some of yours, it would only be fair to let you have some. Right?"

I shook my head. "Thank you, but no. I fed from Bonnie and Matt and I'm done feeding off of my friends," I said as I remembered how it felt for Matt when I fed from him and it hadn't fair to him. Tyler was very outgoing and while in bloodlust, I couldn't control my basic instincts. Taking blood from Tyler would be the equivalent of inviting him upstairs.

"I can put it in a glass," he suggested and I looked at him with curiosity. I had to mentally shake myself to remind myself that I was the mind reader here.

I shook my head firmly. "Damon would smell you on me."

"So?" he asked in a real inquiry. "You drink blood all the time from the bags and when you do go hunting. Why should this be any different?"

I sighed in frustration. "Why are you dead set on this?"

"Curiosity?" he said although it came out as more of question as if he weren't sure about it himself.

I mulled it over, weighing the pros and cons of what he was offering. On one hand, it would be practice without the risk of death because I cared about him. And I was starving since I had been upstairs for the better part of the day. Then there was the fact that bloodlust brought out desire and since that was my only con, I nodded reluctantly. "Fine," I muttered and he came to stand before me. "On one condition."

"Yes?"

"No touching."

He actually pouted and the distant image of a puppy caught chewing the furniture popped into my head. "That takes all the fun out of it."

I nodded as I tried to contain my smile. "Those are my terms."

"Alright, alright," he said and grinned. "Where do you want me?"

I shook my head. "You're incorrigible," I muttered and in the blink of an eye, I had him between me and the wall near the stairs. Thankfully, he wasn't that much taller than me so it didn't take much effort to sink my fangs into his throat. He groaned from the first pull of blood I took into my mouth and I almost moaned myself at the taste of fresh blood. The fact that it had the distinct flavor that represented a supernatural being made it that much more potent. I felt his hands slide up my sides and then down until they ran over my rear. Unfortunately blood at my disposal was more tempting than I had anticipated and try as I might, I couldn't pull away.

"Elena," he said in a strangled voice as his groping touch became a struggle to get away from me.

His voice cut through my desire to finish him and I pulled my fangs out of his skin. My tongue ran over the marks and they healed almost instantly. "Sorry," I muttered as I moved to pull away. Before I could, he cupped my face and pressed his lips to roughly to mine. Apparently my fear about the desire interfering with intuition was for nothing because I pushed him away and slapped him hard.

Maybe a little too hard because his nose was bleeding. I was going to apologize, but he turned to me, rubbing his jaw with a smug, satisfied look on his face. "Totally worth it."

"Get out," I growled, but I was laughing on the inside. I went to the half bath in the back hallway to clean myself up and did a double take when I saw myself in the mirror. My normal dark brown eyes were now tinted yellow-green and had a wild edge that wasn't there before. "Fantastic," I muttered to myself as I shook my head and wiped away the remnants of Tyler's blood from my skin.


	14. Chapter 14

FOURTEEN

The doorbell rang, pulling me away from my sudden vanity so that I could answer it. Bonnie and Anna had arrived at the same time and both of them were trying to fill the silence as they waited for me. "I guess I should have explained," I said as I stepped aside to let them in.

"That would have been good," Anna said. She glanced at the spell book in Bonnie's hands. "Because that doesn't look promising."

We moved to the living room where I sat in the chairs while they took the couch. "In all honesty, this is a girl's night. Anna, you're going to turn Jeremy eventually, meaning you'll be in my life forever and ever. So, I figured we should get to know each other better because, let's face it, we'll need someone to hang out with other than the boys."

She grinned and I had to ignore the look on Bonnie's face that vaguely said she was jealous of that fact. "And the witch is for...?"

I had to remind myself that Anna was very old despite her appearance. "There is a spell in there to create rings. We could get to know each other and make a ring for Jeremy so you have it when the time comes."

Both of them had the same look of awe on their faces. "There are two people trying to kill you and you're worried about your brother having a ring when she turns him?" Bonnie questioned, making sure that she had it right.

I nodded. "Is that so wrong?"

They shook their heads. "No, but it's a little too selfless for my taste," Anna said as she sat back and propped her feet up on the coffee table. "Thank you for thinking of it though."

"Alright, let's get that out of the way and we can officially start our night after that."

"You want me to stay for that part?" Bonnie asked.

I looked at her in confusion. "Is that a problem?"

Anna took that as a cue to leave for a moment and Bonnie stared at me. "The whole point was to get to know Anna because you're going to be best friends right?" _You're already replacing me. After all I've done-_

"Bonnie, stop. That's crazy, I'm not replacing you. As long as you're alive-" I stopped short as realization hit her hard.

"Oh Elena. I didn't think of that," she said and put her hand over her face. "God that makes me sound like a bitch."

I smiled lightly as I moved to sit next to her. "No it doesn't. I should have explained that from the get go. You will _always_ be my best friend."

She looked up at me and her reply died instantly as she stared at my eyes. "Elena?"

"What?" I asked even though I was pulling away from her.

"Your eyes. They're...different."

"Are they?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Don't even pretend you don't know what I'm talking about."

I sighed as Anna came back into the room. She looked between the two of us and smiled. "Did you finally tell her about the wolf?"

Bonnie's eyes widened as she made the connection in her mind. "What about Tyler?"

"Oops," Anna muttered, but she was smirking.

"Tyler let me drink his blood," I said to Bonnie. To Anna, I asked, "Will that do anything to me?"

She pursed her lips and thought for a moment. "To normal vampires, it just enhances their senses even more for a little depending on the amount. However, you're not a normal vampire so for all I know, you could be howling at the full moon right alongside Tyler." I groaned and looked at the mirror in the hall. "For instance, the new color of your eyes has never happened to any vampire I know."

I stared at my eyes in astonishment at the fact that they were more yellow-green than brown. It had only been twenty minutes since Tyler left and the quick change was more than a little unsettling. I tore my gaze away and looked at the two of them. "We'll worry about that later. Right now, we need to make that ring."

There was a moment of pause before the other two nodded in agreement. "I don't suppose you have another ring laying around?" Bonnie asked.

I shook my head as I realized I hadn't exactly thought this through. "No."

Anna looked between us, looking as if she had something to say. I made the "well" gesture with my hand and she fished something out of her pocket. She held out her hand with her palm up and resting there was my family ring. It had been the original Gilbert ring and John had always been jealous because his brother had it. "I found it on your brother's desk one day and I was going to talk to Bonnie about creating one soon."

I was still looking at the ring because it had been in storage since their death. I took it from her and was immediately overwhelmed by images of the car accident that all of us had been in. I dropped the ring and took a step back, tears streaming down my face. "Elena?" Bonnie asked in concern as she stepped forward to comfort me and then stopped.

Anna's face was full of curiosity as she picked up the ring. "Looks like someone acquired a new power."

"_What_?"

I had forgotten no one knew about it but us and the fact that Anna knew what had happened meant she had met someone with this ability as well. I held up a hand signaling I needed a minute and went to the bathroom to cool down. When I was feeling better, I came back to the living room and looked at Bonnie. "Anna's right, I got another ability. When I touch things I can see the past."

"When?"

"Jeremy's graduation dinner. When I went upstairs to my room, I touched the bed and saw Jenna in it crying over my absence." I didn't want to relive my last sight so I didn't mention it. "I didn't want to say anything about it."

Bonnie nodded as if she understood and they let it drop. "So this is the ring you want to use?" she asked Anna.

"He wouldn't shut up about how it was a family heirloom that always went to the oldest male in the family," Anna said and smiled as we took our seats around the coffee table in the living room to help Bonnie set up. "Last time I saw it, it was on the hand of Johnathan Gilbert himself."

Bonnie was a little startled. "Did you know Emily too?"

Anna's smile faded as she remembered the witch. "I have nothing good to say about her," she said after a moment. "She was, after all, Katherine's little pet."

There was not another word spoken between any of us. My head was still going over the accident as though it had happened yesterday and as much as I wanted to, I couldn't flip that inner switch to shut it off. "Okay, let's begin," Bonnie announced, signaling for Anna and I to be quiet so she could concentrate.

We watched in awe as Bonnie's chant raised the ring off the table where it levitated in midair. It started spinning, gaining speed by the second. Just as it began to make me dizzy, it was surrounded by a blue-green light that faded to silver and then brightened to the point that Anna and I had to close our sensitive eyes. When I opened my eyes again, the ring was floating back down to the table where it rested with a soft clank. "That was incredible," Anna breathed and I nodded in agreement.

Anna pocketed the ring and then we helped Bonnie clean up. "Alright, now girl's night can officially begin," I said and turned on the TV to the first cheesy romance film I could find. God bless for Lifetime and Oxygen. For lack of planning, the night wasn't as awkward as I had thought it was going to be. Anna seemed to fit in as if we had grown up together. I think it had something to do with the fact that she grew up in the same town Bonnie in I had, age difference aside. I had a hard time believing that this was the same girl who had kidnapped me as leverage to get Damon to open the tomb. Then again, she only did it for her mother and in the same position, I would have done the same thing.

After a few hours of movies, talking, and munching on whatever snacks there were in the fridge, Bonnie yawned. "I should go. I have to work in the morning."

"I promised Jeremy I would be back," Anna said.

I walked them to the door and gave them both hugs. "We should do this again, but be more prepared."

"Maybe," Anna and Bonnie said in unison and then laughed as they waved goodbye. Anna took off with her speed and I watched Bonnie's car until it disappeared from sight.

Suddenly, the fact that I was alone in a house that anyone could enter sunk in and I found myself trembling. _You're a vampire for crying out loud_! My mind was yelling at me to snap out of it and I jumped at sound coming from the back porch. "Stefan?" I called out, hoping he had just returned from his hunt. I took a deep breath and forced myself to the back door and opened it carefully. There was nothing in the backyard. Nothing I could see.

I was about to close the door when I saw something move from the corner of my eye. I moved to the stairs and peered out into the darkness, trying to find whatever was out there. I tensed up as I felt flimsy cold metal around my neck. I looked down and saw my necklace. "I believe this is yours," came a familiar voice that would have stopped my heart cold.

I didn't move a muscle as he clasped the necklace and moved my hair so the chain was completely touching my neck. He moved to stand in front of me and it reminded me of a lion stalking his prey. I followed his every move with my eyes, terribly afraid of what he wanted. "Why are you here? What do you want?" I found myself asking. I wanted to run back into the house or scream, but it would do me no good.

"You took something that belonged to me," he said after a moment of staring intensely at me. I wracked my brain trying to figure out what in the world he was talking about. I didn't have anything of his. My eyes widened as I realized he meant Katherine. He inclined his head at my revelation, letting me know I had come to the right conclusion. "You took her from me twice."

"So kill me and get it over with," I snapped and before I could stop myself.

In an instant, I was between him and the exterior of the house. He had one hand around my throat just to show that he was stronger, but he wasn't strangling me. "She was my queen." For the first time I heard emotion in his voice. It was distant, but it was there. "I am not going to kill you Elena."

"Then what do you want?" I breathed. I was close to tears even though I was determined not to show any emotion.

He pulled away, giving me some "breathing room" and looked at me with amusement. "I have come to offer you a place at my side for all eternity."

That made me angry. I balled my fists at my side. "I am so sick of everyone making me their replacement Katherine!" I yelled, momentarily forgetting that he was probably as old as the earth.

My outburst seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever. His eyes hardened as he looked at me and his next words chilled me to the bone. "I will give you a week to reconsider. If you decline, I will settle for taking your king."

My whole body was on the verge of collapsing as his words sunk in and echoed through my mind. "No," I breathed. "You wouldn't."

He caught my chin in a strong grasp and his dark blue eyes bore into mine. "The decision is yours."

And just like that, he was gone. All the adrenaline that had been pumping through my body evaporated and I collapsed on the porch in front of the open door.


	15. Chapter 15

FIFTEEN

Not even a minute after collapsing, there were hands grabbing my shoulders and then arms around me as I was lifted up. I put my head on a shoulder and closed my eyes in relief as I inhaled the scent of Stefan. He carried me to the living room and sat me on the couch before going to get me a glass of water. I had a few sips before I set it on the little table next to the couch. Unable to keep sitting, I laid down on my side. Stefan was kneeling in front of me and stroked my face while he moved the hair out of my vision. I was still crying; I was one weepy vampire. His eyes were full of compassion and understanding. "You heard," I breathed, surprising both of us that I was able to speak.

He nodded. "I had come back from hunting and I was afraid that if I moved to help you he would kill us both."

I felt sick and closed my eyes. "I don't know what to do. I can't lose Damon."

"I know," he replied and put his other hand in mine. "He gave you a week. We can all come up with a plan in a week."

I shook my head. "No we won't."

He smiled grimly as he continued to trace my jaw. Never in my life had I ever felt this weak. I felt completely and utterly helpless. "You are going to tell Damon, right?"

I barely nodded. "But I need everyone here to help me stop him in case he tries to go after Klaus."

"I can arrange that. If you make him promise not to go after him, he won't. He really does love you Elena." I knew the words hurt him, but he said them anyway. Maybe he was finally accepting it. "Come on," he whispered as he picked me up. "You need your rest. It'll be better if you don't look like this when Damon gets home."

I said nothing as he carried me into my room and laid me on the bed. He tucked me in gingerly as if he were afraid I would shatter into pieces if he touched me. "Thank you," I breathed when he was finished.

"You're welcome," he returned and kissed my forehead before leaving. I curled up into a ball and used my arms as a pillow instead of the real thing. Unaware of how tired I was, I drifted off to sleep rather easily.

My slumber didn't last long, but it was long enough to recover from the adrenaline rush I had experienced. I felt eyes on me and I lifted my head to find Damon staring at me from the entrance of the room with a peculiar expression on his face. "Are you aware that you were _barking_ in your sleep?"

I shook my head as I thought about how weird that was. Vampire or not. "I was?"

"And whimpering. And doing that thing with your hands and feet as if you were running on all fours," he said as he crossed his arms. "Care to explain?"

"How long have you been there watching me sleep like a stalker?" I countered.

"Not long," he said and sat on the edge of the bed beside me. He tipped my head up and his eyes widened as he noticed the color of my eyes. He inhaled deeply through his nose and then narrowed his eyes at me.

"Yes, I had Tyler's blood. Only because he had mine first." _Way to make the situation more awkward_, I chided myself.

"I can't wait for this explanation," he said dryly.

"When Tyler found me on Friday, he licked the blood on my face. After you left, I talked to Stefan and Tyler and they noticed I was looking paler than usual. Stefan went to hunt and Tyler offered me his blood."

"We had plenty of bags in the fridge," he said and then scowled at the fact that he would rather I had done that instead of taken fresh blood.

"The blood bags still haven't healed me completely. So I took it, but I almost went too far."

He nodded and cupped my face. "How do you feel now?"

I did a mental check and nodded. "I think it worked because I don't feel anything relating to that injury."

He looked thoughtful. "I'm still going to have a talk with Mr. Lockwood." His hand traveled down my face and then my throat. When his fingers touched the chain his eyes snapped downwards until he lifted the locket away from my skin. I closed my eyes as I felt him tense. "Please tell me you found this in the kitchen."

I bit my lower lip and shook my head briefly before looking back at him. He was angry and wanted to yell out, but his self restraint was astounding. "It wasn't in the kitchen."

"Elena-"

"I don't want to talk about it right now," I said and sat up so that I could wrap my arms around him and find comfort and safety in his arms. "I will tell you what happened, but not right now. I promise," I breathed as I tightened my arms around him.

Reluctantly he nodded and pulled away long enough to shed his clothes before joining me under the covers. "How was girl's night?" he asked.

I was laying on my stomach with my arms tucked under me and my head was turned towards him. He was on his side, propped up on his elbow with his free hand stroking my back. I was relieved that he was willing to let it go for now. I wanted to feel a bit normal before I told him I only had a week left. I pushed the thought aside and answered him. "Anna had my fath- my uncle's ring and Bonnie spelled it. That way Jeremy has a ring to keep him safe when Anna turns him. Then we pigged out on junk food and watched cheesy girl stuff for a few hours."

"Any pillow fights you would like to rehash in detail?"

I smiled lightly and shook my head. "No, sorry. How did your...evening go?" I asked, a glimmer of humor in my eyes.

He shrugged. "Not as much fun as it would have been had I stayed."

He flashed a grin and I rolled my eyes. "You and Tyler need to get this lesbian thing out of your head. It's not going to happen."

He moved so that he was laying on top of me. "I don't want anyone else but you," he said with a serious voice. He leaned down and kissed me. It was sweet and fierce at the same time and I felt my body soar in that safety that I felt whenever I was in his presence. His lips moved from mine, to my jaw, and then my neck. As I relaxed from his expert touch, I couldn't help but think Klaus and his ultimatum. His words echoed loudly in my head and I nearly jumped off the bed after forcefully pushing him away. I stood by the window and pressed my head against the cool glass. He was right behind me, slipping his hand into mine and squeezing it for comfort. "I think you should tell me what happened," he said in a low voice that was full of protectiveness.

I continued to stare out the window. "Only if you promise to do nothing and stay right here with me."

He turned me to look at him with is other hand, keeping his other firmly locked with mine by our sides. His eyes were blazing like a wildfire, knowing full well that he was not going to like what I was about to tell him. "I promise to stay right here."

"I mean it Damon. No running off to do something stupid."

His grip tightened on my hand and had I been human, he would have broken it. "I promise," he replied and stared at me. "Now out with it."

"After Anna and Bonnie left, I felt scared because I was alone. I heard something out back and foolishly opened the door. I was going to come back in, but Klaus was behind me, putting my necklace on." Again, his grip tightened and his jaw was clenched so hard I thought it would snap. "He said he wasn't going to kill me," I started and had to stop from the onslaught of tears that kept coming up. "He is angry because I killed Katherine twice. He said he would give me a week to...a week to..." I couldn't say it.

"Elena, it's okay," Damon said in a not so convincing tone.

I took a deep breath and flipped that inner switch just to get through the next part. It helped more than I thought it would. "He said I had a week to either be with him for an eternity or he would settle for taking you from me as I had taken Katherine from him."

This time, he really did break my hand. I grimaced and pulled out of his grasp to heal and felt the bones crunch as they knitted themselves back together. He was livid with anger that he was practically glowing. His gaze flickered to the door and then to me. The moment his eyes met mine, he seemed to remember his promise and the fact that I was scared out of my mind. He pulled me to him in a crushing grip that I returned completely. "I'm not going anywhere and neither are you. Do you understand that? That bastard is not going to touch you or threaten you ever again."

I wanted to believe that and so did Damon but we both knew the truth. One of us was going to lose and it wasn't going to be Klaus. We stood there in silence clinging to each other to let the situation sink in and the reality was very unpleasant.


	16. Chapter 16

SIXTEEN

Damon and I were officially attached at the hip. He moved, I moved. We were determined to spend every moment possible together because we were unsure of how much time we had left. Only Stefan knew about the incident with Klaus on Monday. When I had told Damon how it was Stefan who brought me inside the minute Klaus had left, I expected him to be angry at the fact Stefan hadn't done something. Instead, he went across the hall and thanked his brother for what seemed like the very first time. I wasn't sure which one of us was the most stunned by that action.

I had made Damon stay locked up with me inside the bedroom for two days as we thought over every option we had, which wasn't much. "We could just run," I suggested sometime on Wednesday afternoon. We were laying face-up on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"He would only follow us," he said and turned towards me. I moved my head to the side to look in his eyes and he smiled. "Your eyes are still yellow-green."

"How long is that going to last?" I asked. Tomorrow was the full moon and I had a funny feeling that I was going to find it hard to resist.

"I have no idea," he answered. There was a knock at the door and we both stiffened. "Come in," Damon called, not bothering to sit up.

Stefan opened the door and inclined his head. "Everyone is downstairs."

I narrowed my eyes at both of them. "Which one of you brought them here?" I demanded to know.

"We both did," Damon said and squeezed my hand before we sat up. "As you requested, the humans in your life have been left out, however, the supernaturals are here to come up with a brilliant scheme to kick this guy's ass."

I sighed, "Just give me a minute and I'll be right there."

They exchanged glances but said nothing else as they headed down to join the rest. I went into the bathroom and just looked into the mirror. I had been doing this a lot lately since taking Tyler's blood, but I kept waiting for some drastic change like extreme facial hair or the urge to drink from the toilet. Instead, all that seemed to change was the color of my eyes. At least with the change I looked a little less like Katherine. I had already wasted two out of the seven days Klaus had given me to make a decision and we still had no plan. I rested my hand on the counter and just tried to think positively. With that plan failing, I stepped away from the sink. The moment my hands let go, the pieces I had been holding crumpled to the ground. I straightened and went downstairs to see everyone waiting for me.

Tyler immediately stood up, earning an irritated look from Damon. From what I had been told, I still smelled heavily of Tyler. Apparently, his blood was like a semi-permanent marker that would fade over time. Pearl stood as well and I did a double take at the objects in her hands. There were four leather bound journals like the one Isobel had given me. "I thought these could be of some use," she said as she handed them to me.

"Katherine's journals?" I asked as I took them. I barely saw her nod before I was launched into another vision just from touching the soft leather. It was of Katherine hastily burying them in the grave that held the body of my ancestor. It faded into Pearl digging them up and then it disappeared. "Why would she bury them there?" I asked, forgetting she hadn't seen what I had.

She seemed to understand, meaning Anna told her about my new ability, however everyone else was stunned. "She knew no one would look for them there. Not even Isobel," Pearl answered as she took her seat between Anna and Harper.

It was then I noticed the living room had been rearranged for this particular occasion. The couch from the formal living room had been placed facing the other couch and extra chairs had been placed in the empty spots between the couches. Harper, Anna, and Pearl took up the couch in front of the fireplace. John and Alaric were sitting in the chairs closer to the kitchen while Bonnie and Stefan took the chairs closer to the door. That left room for Damon, Tyler, and I on the couch. I sat on the edge of the couch near John and Alaric and Damon sat close at my side, forcing Tyler to nearly perch on the arm. "Did you read them?" I asked Pearl.

She inclined her head. "It seems Katherine was almost seven hundred years old. She met Roarke when he came to her town to trade and the marriage was arranged. The moment she found out his secret, he told her he was working for a vampire as old as time itself. Naturally she had to meet him and he protested. He worked on getting her pregnant so that she would stop and fall for him rather than what he offered her, but in the end, it did no good."

I nodded in agreement. "It only made her want it more," I finished for her.

"Does it say how to kill Klaus?" Alaric asked. "Or Roarke for that matter. Do we even know what he is?"

"I might have an answer for that," Bonnie said weakly as all eyes settled on her. "When we found Elena, there was a strange energy buzzing around the air that I could almost see it. That night I had dream the way Elena sometimes does where she sees the past and it was Roarke. It was right after the last dream you had where she traded blood with him. He woke up and decided that the only way to get Katherine back was to become a vampire. He tried to kill himself, but he came back human every time. He went to Klaus after a few failed attempts at an immortality spell and Klaus refused saying he wanted Katherine all to himself. He was angry of course, but since her blood was out of his system and he didn't have any more, his only option was the spell. I could only watch as he tried it a hundred different ways before my eyes and ended up stark raving mad."

"Like if you compel someone too much," Stefan supplied and she nodded.

"I guess. After the thousandth attempt, Klaus returned and while Roarke was sleeping, he added his blood to the potion. When Roarke tried the spell in the morning, it worked, but not the way he hoped. It turned him immortal, but he would forever be a mad warlock who could only do what Klaus commanded him to do. Like a possessed soldier with no free will whatsoever."

"So he's killable, just really hard to reach," Damon concluded.

She bit her lip and looked at me. I nodded and she continued. "I think I could get to him. I'm not as strong as he is, but if he's in the middle of completing an order from Klaus, it would give me an advantage."

That gave me an idea that no one had mentioned before. "We could just bring Katherine back."

"No," was all I heard from nine different voices all of the same tone.

"Think about it before you make up your minds," I pleaded. "He wants Katherine back, let's give her to him. This way, we can threaten that if they stay away from us, I won't kill her again."

"That's a horrible plan-" the guys started, but Pearl and Anna were nodding.

"I think she may have a point," Pearl said on my behalf, earning multiple glares.

"Thank you," I muttered. At least there was one person who didn't think I was crazy.

"As I recall, Mr. Lockwood was unable to see Roarke the first time Elena was attacked," she said and everyone tensed. She looked at Bonnie. "That may cause unwanted effects for you plan. Has anyone else seen him but Elena?"

"In my dream," Bonnie replied.

"That may allow her to see him," I hoped.

"Perhaps, but I don't think we should put all of our hopes into that plan just yet. Not until we know for sure. Is there a way you could contact Klaus and offer him Katherine?"

"I don't know," I said quietly and shook my head. "From the way he phrased it, it seemed like he would just collect when my deadline was up."

Damon's hand tightened on mine for comfort and I squeezed back. "Don't you all have more vampire friends you could call in to help?" Tyler asked.

All the vampires except for me nodded at the same time. "We have contacted all of our allies. Some have responded, others have not. However, most of them were more than happy to come and fight with us."

That didn't sit well with me. "Why would vampires be happy about killing other vampires?" I asked.

"Because Klaus is an Original. He does not need a ring to be out in the sun. They are all powerful and it is said that only a few drops of their blood would eliminate the need for these," Pearl answered and held up her hand, pointing to the ring on her finger. "That is why the vampires will come."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "I asked you if you knew anything about the originals and you said no."

"I have done some research since," she assured me.

It was then that everyone seemed to have an idea at once and they bounced around the room rapidly. It was almost too much to bear. I got up and headed to the back porch even though I knew it was a bad idea; I needed the silence. Damon's arms around me were more than welcome as we stood near the stairs. "I still think the best plan is bringing her back."

"And if he says no?"

"Then I'll kill her again."

He sighed. "You did that once and she'll be expecting it a second time."

"I'm much stronger than I was that day. I killed her when I was human. Damon, this is the best plan."

"No, it isn't," he argued, his voice escalating in anger.

I stepped out of his embrace. "Then what am I supposed to do? There's a mad warlock who can't be seen and a vampire who is literally as old as dirt who can't be killed that are after me. Maybe it would be best if I just went with him for all eternity."

"That's even more absurd than bringing Katherine back."

I stared at him with hard eyes, letting him know how I felt about my options. "I would rather spend forever by his side knowing that you're alive with the possibility of hearing your voice or seeing your face than saying no and watch you die before my eyes."

His eyes softened as he looked at me, watching me go through turmoil. "There is nothing to say that he won't kill me even after you agree to his terms."

"I know that!" I snapped at him and was extremely mortified when it came out as more of a bark. We both sort of smiled as I covered my mouth in surprise. I cleared my throat and took a few steps away from him. "Just promise me you'll think about it."

"The thing is, Katherine is such an evil bitch that she would convince Klaus to have Roarke kill the whole town and they would walk away from it all with no hard feelings."

I took a deep, unnecessary breath, and turned to face him. "I've thought of that too, but I can't lose you. Not when it took me this long to find you. I didn't go through all of this Katherine bullshit just to see you or any of them get hurt over it. Damn her and her games," I hissed as I felt the urge to beat something up. I sank down on the porch against the rough exterior of the house and put my head in my hands. "If I had just walked away when Stefan told me to..."

Damon sat next to me and drew me into his lap. "If you had walked away, I would have done something we'd both regret. I wouldn't trade this for anything. Like I've said before, I hate Katherine for what she did, but she did lead me to you."

I buried my head on his shoulder and we just sat there, gently rocking back and forth to calm both our nerves and our tempers. I looked up at him through my lashes and smiled lightly. Never in a million years would I had ever imagined him ever doing something like this. Something so sweet and normal. "I love you," I breathed against his shirt.

"I love you too Elena," he returned and we both looked up as the back door opened and everyone else piled onto the deck. Damon stood up, drawing me with him and set me on my feet, but kept me close at his side. "Yes?" he asked, clearly unhappy about the intrusion.

"We have come to a consensus," Pearl announced and looked at everyone, daring them to say otherwise. "We will bring Katherine back for him."


	17. Chapter 17

**a/n: I feel like I made a mistake but I don't know where...maybe I'm just being paranoid...either way, if you see anything iffy, let me know :)**

SEVENTEEN

We had come up with a basic plan, but had to wait until the other vampires came to town to fine tune the details. The only major problem was Bonnie. Resurrecting Katherine the first time had caused her to become unconscious and weak and since we needed her to defeat Roarke too, we were stuck. The morning after the meeting downstairs. Damon told me he was going to check something with Stefan. "You said you wouldn't leave," I argued.

"I know-"

'Then tell me where you're going," I demanded, hands on hips while I glared at him.

"Not far."

"Damon!"

"I promise I will be back late tonight. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but if I'm right, Stefan and I can get some extra help."

"You can't just use the phone?"

He shook his head. "No, trust me Elena. If I play my cards right, we might actually have a shot at beating Klaus."

I sighed, knowing he was going whether I wanted him to or not. "You're not going to kill him are you?"

"Of course not."

"You'll call me every hour?" I asked, earning a small smile from him.

"Yes, I will call you every hour on the hour until I return."

"This is not funny," I growled, irritated that it turned into a real growl.

He crossed the room to gather my hands in his, mostly to keep me from pacing as I had been doing. Between the situation at hand and my reaction to Tyler's blood, I was completely restless. I felt like crawling out of my own skin in the hopes of being able to sit still and judging from Tyler's jittery actions this morning, he was feeling the same way. "He gave you a week. Vampires hardly ever go back on their word. I will be fine and I will be back tonight. Try to stay indoors," he said.

I sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Be careful," I breathed.

He nodded before bringing his lips down to mine. I slid my arms around his neck as he put his hands on my waist to pull me close. We were both greedy with passion and the fear of it being the last kiss. We both knew the two of them needed to go now, but it didn't do anything to stop us. I groaned against him as he pushed me up against the wall, our hands hastily tearing away the clothes that prevented our closeness. He pushed my pajama bottoms off of my hips and tore the panties from me before lifting me by my hips. I wrapped my legs around him as he moved to the bathroom and sat me on the edge of the counter. I rested my back against the wall as he momentarily broke the kiss to free himself. He wasted no time in sliding inside of me and we both moaned into the harsh kiss. I arched my back and moved my hips in time with his thrusts. My hands clenched in his hair as his dug into my hips, both of us trying to pull each other closer. It was the fastest climax either of us had reached and we came together. When we both felt sated, we just leaned on one another. He was still inside of me so I was careful not to move too much.

There was a knock at the door, pulling us away from our connection. "Damon? Are you ready?" Stefan called through the door in the bedroom.

"Almost," Damon returned and finally stepped back from me. He wiped himself off briskly before pulling his pants back on. "I will be back," he assured me once more and kissed me deeply.

"I know," I whispered and then watched him walk away. I let my head fall back against the wall and shut my eyes as I tried not to cry. After a few minutes, I slid off the counter, removed the rest of my clothes, and stepped into the shower. That would kill about a half hour of time. I took another half hour to take my time getting ready for the day and guests downstairs. I was grateful everyone had stayed over night and was relieved to see Bonnie on the couch next to Tyler. They both turned to look at me and Bonnie slid off the couch and put her arms around me.

"He'll be back before you know it," she said and I hugged her back.

"Where are Pearl and the others?" I asked as I realized I hadn't sensed the three other vampires in the house. "And John and Alaric?"

"Harper and Anna went to find more people to help. Alaric went to console Jenna because her and Jeremy are really upset about being out of the loop. I did talk to Jeremy and he promised he would stay at home until you said it was okay to come over." I smiled at the fact that he had listened to me for once in his life. "Pearl and John went back to her house because she has the invention that Emily spelled to hurt vampires."

I frowned at that. "I thought he gave all the inventions to Isobel?"

"Pearl refused to give this one to him."

I nodded as I thought it over. "Won't it hurt us?"

"I have a solution to that too. Once we figure out how the invention works, I could create a counter spell for the vampires so that it only affects Klaus."

"Who's to say it will work on him anyway?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, but I'm willing to try it."

I nodded and smiled lightly. "Alright, it sounds like a good plan." My eyes moved past her to Tyler who was watching TV. "Hey Tyler?" I asked.

He turned on the couch to look at me. "Yes Elena?"

"Do you know of any other werewolves?"

"It's not like we have a convention," he said dryly.

"You are pack animals by nature."

"I like to think of myself as a lone wolf," he said proudly. Bonnie and I both rolled our eyes and moved towards the couch.

"Does your father know what you are? Is he one too?" Bonnie asked.

His eyes widened in a moment of fear and he shook his head. "I don't know. He might, but he hasn't said anything. My grandfather was sent to a mental hospital because he kept raving about it."

"And the hospital never noticed he went missing during a full moon?" I asked, keeping his gaze with mine. "There is no way that your father doesn't know."

He sighed, knowing where I was going with this and nodded his head. "Fine, I'm assuming you would like to talk to my father?"

"Do you think it's a good idea to leave the house?" Bonnie asked.

"No, but I don't see any other option. Mayor Lockwood is on the council and he's probably at work."

Tyler shut off the television and got up. "Alright, let's go."

The keys to Damon's car was missing, meaning he had taken it to wherever he was going. I thought about what to do and then remembered Stefan's car was also in the garage. "Do you know where he keeps his keys?" I asked Bonnie.

"I'll get them," she said and dashed upstairs.

"What if he doesn't know anything?" Tyler asked.

"I'll compel him to forget we were ever there," I assured him, reminding myself that I should probably eat before going anywhere. I had two bags by the time Bonnie returned back downstairs and I let Tyler drive to his father's office since he knew the way.

We wandered around the building with Tyler muttering hello's as we went and then he knocked on his father's office. Mayor Lockwood's assistant opened the door and waved us inside. He was on the phone in a heated conversation that he cut short the minute he realized who had come into the room. He signaled for the woman to leave and smiled wearily at the sight of the three of us. "What is it Tyler? I'm working."

"Elena has a few questions for you," Tyler answered, obviously used to his father's harsh words.

I offered a light smile, trying to maintain my innocent look. I wasn't fooled for a second as his father tried to mask his sharp intake of breath as he caught of whiff of my scent. There was knowing in his eyes and it scared him, but he cleared his throat and straightened his shirt. "I'm busy," he repeated.

"It will only take a second," I said in a tone that told him we weren't going anywhere.

He let out a little breath and inclined his head. "What can I do for you Miss Gilbert?" he asked.

"Tyler tells me of your family history where your father is concerned." He fidgeted with his tie and I could see the sweat starting to bead on his forehead. Not to mention the smell of fear that hit my nose. "Are there others like you close by? A pack that you're aware of?"

He smiled and tried to laugh as if I were playing some sort of practical joke. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

"John tells me you're on the Founder's Council," I said and moved to corner him behind his desk. "So you know that there are vampires and I know that you know full well what I'm asking. I can sense that you're a werewolf just like Tyler is."

Mayor Lockwood's eyes snapped towards his son and widened. "You are? How long have you known?"

"For a year. Elena was the one who helped me cope, no thanks to you," Tyler said coldly and it made me pause. I had never thought to ask if he had ever tried to bring it up with his father.

Rather than start an argument we didn't have time for, I reached forward and grasped Mayor Lockwood by his wrist. My eyes clamped shut as I reached into his mind and searched for the answers I was looking for. He knew exactly what I was talking about. He himself changed under the full moon, but he always arranged his business trips out of town at the time. He was late for today's trip because we were here and he was afraid he wouldn't make it. Mrs. Lockwood had no idea about what he was and he had no plan to tell her in the near future. He thought of the brother he never talked to anymore in Maine who had joined a rather large pack and kept trying to get him to join. I let go and smiled. "I think I have everything I need."

"What the hell are you?" he asked as he backed up into the filing cabinet.

His fear was too much for my hunter's instincts and I couldn't stop my fangs from sliding out, my eyes outlined by the blue and red veins. "I am a vampire."

His eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. "Your uncle-"

"My father already knows," I interrupted, catching him off guard.

"Elena," Bonnie warned, breaking from my predator trance.

My fangs retracted and I cleared my throat. I took Mayor Lockwood's face in my hands and made sure his eyes were locked on mine. "Tyler came to visit you today to ask you what you needed him to do around the house while you were gone. Bonnie and I waited in the hall. Do you understand?"

His eyes went blank and his body relaxed. "I understand," he mumbled and I dumped him in his chair before we walked out of his office.

The three of us were silent until we got to Stefan's car. "What did you find out?" Tyler asked.

"You have an uncle that lives in Maine right?"

He was completely dumbfounded that I knew that. "My uncle Darren. He and my father don't talk anymore. Something to do with my grandfather."

"Apparently, Uncle Darren is part of a pack. We should run to your house and get his number to get in touch with him. He might bring the pack down here to help if you ask him to," I said as I watched him lean against the car.

He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't think that would be such a good idea."

"Why not?" Bonnie asked as she moved closer to my side.

"The last time I saw him I was really young. I saw them get into a pretty big fight and he said he would never step foot in this town again if my father was going to deny like a true politician," he explained. He was mentally reliving that day and I stepped back to keep me out of his thoughts.

"Would you just try? For me?" I asked, putting on the best guilt tripping face I could make and he swore under his breath.

"Only for you," he said and swore some more as we piled back into the car and drove to his house. Luckily his mother was out for the day and we found no number whatsoever anywhere in the house.

"I would have thought they'd have a number for emergencies," Bonnie said as we stood in the living room.

"The hospital might have a record of it," Tyler suggested.

"If not, we could always call information," I added.

Bonnie nodded in agreement as Tyler went to get the hospital's number from the address book in his father's home office. When he returned, he picked up the phone, but Bonnie pulled it away from him. "We can do that from the boarding house. Let's go," she said and we headed back.

Bonnie and I sat on the couch as Tyler used the formal living room to make the call. "That didn't kill as much time as I would have liked," I said as I sank into the couch.

She smiled lightly, "It helps if you don't watch the clock."

"I haven't seen a clock all day," I pointed out.

She gave me a sideways glance. "You know what I meant."

"He didn't even tell me where he was going. Did Stefan mention it to you?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, he told me he wouldn't tell me because Damon was afraid you would pick my brain."

"Ha ha," I said dryly and felt a wave of misery at the fact I had no idea where he was. I didn't have long to think about it because Tyler came into the room and dropped on the couch between Bonnie and I. "Did they have a number?"

He nodded. "They said he calls once a year and it's always from this number. I told them it was a family emergency so they gave it to me. Any idea on what I should say?"

I shrugged. "How was he with you before the fall out?"

A smiled tugged at his lips. "He was great. I always wished he was my dad because he actually did things with me other than say he would and cancel because of meetings."

I laid my hand on his arm and squeezed for comfort. "Then use that. Tell him your father finally told you what happened and you've been having some questions that he won't answer."

"Thanks," he said and I could feel the air of confidence surrounding him. He dialed the phone and before putting it to his ear, he inhaled deeply. "You smell fantastic by the way."

I socked him in the leg before reaching to grab his hand to let him know I was there for support. The moment someone answered, he stood up and started talking. "What are they saying?" Bonnie asked as Tyler walked in circles around the room.

I was listening to both sides of the conversation and filled her in as I did so. Tyler came back and held the phone out to me. "He wants to talk to you."

I exchanged glances with Bonnie before getting up and taking the phone. "Hello?"

"Elena Gilbert," the voice on the other end was cool and followed by the sound of a low whistle. "Your father contacted me the other day."

I was startled for a second before I realized he was talking about John. "What did he tell you?"

"That there was some pretty bad things lurking around town."

"And?"

"And if my nephew hadn't just called with the same information, my answer would still be the same." I straightened as I looked back at my friends who were watching my every move. "You must be pretty important to my nephew for him to defy his father and contact his relative after all these years."

"Your brother may not realize what kind of danger is out there and try to deny everything, but Tyler is fully aware of what he is. I know you don't want to come back, but I am asking you, from one founding family to another, please bring your pack to town and help us."

There was a pause, but I could hear other people in the room besides the man on the phone. "Tell me, the man that you're doing this for. Is he worth it?"

I closed my eyes and nodded. "Yes."

Darren chuckled. "What kind of founder would I be if I didn't save my town? When do you need us by?"

"The sooner you can get here, the better. No later than Monday," I rushed as I swelled with excitement. "Thank you."

"No, thank you for taking care of Tyler when his father wouldn't. There's not a vampire I know that would do that for our kind. They usually think their better than us. We'll be there soon," he assured me and then the line went dead.

"Well?" Bonnie asked as I stood there in awe.

I nodded and smiled a real smile for the first time in days. "They'll be here soon."


	18. Chapter 18

EIGHTEEN

I was giddy with hope after that and was even more happy when John and Pearl came into the house not long after the phone call. I told them about Tyler's uncle and though they were a little uneasy, they had no other choice but to be somewhat relieved that there was more help on the way. "It does seem a little strange that we're recruiting all this help for only two people," I said as we sat in the living room.

Pearl put the invention down on the table and Bonnie flipped through her spell book. "It won't be enough," Pearl said, raining on my parade. "He is incredibly strong."

"I know that," I said and straightened up. "I'm not stupid; I've seen what he can do."

"You've seen what Roarke can do," she corrected and I realized she was right.

I turned my attention to John. "Has Damon called you?"

He shook his head. "No, I wasn't aware he had left."

"He and Stefan left. They said they would be back tonight, but they were supposed to call frequently. It's been at least two hours since they left."

He put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "He'll call. If he said he was going to, he will."

I bit my lip and then shook my head. "He better," I mumbled before we both sat down. "What are we doing with this again?" I asked Bonnie.

"Emily originally spelled this to hurt vampires when it was turned on. To expose them so that the council could put them in the tomb. I could redirect the spell to make it so that it would only hurt Klaus."

"Don't you need something that belonged to him?" John asked.

"That would be the easy way," she agreed and looked at Pearl and I. "There is a way I can do this experimentally. If you're up for it."

"What do you mean?"

She lifted up the spell book to show us a page with an illustration of the invention and a spell written underneath it. "With the original spell, I can alter it so that it doesn't effect young vampires. It might affect the older ones like Pearl and Anna, but it will be like the older you are, the stronger the effect. But I don't know which variation will work unless I test it."

She was looking at Pearl the way a child looks at a parent for approval. She had subconsciously moved farther into the couch in an attempt to make herself more comfortable. Pearl flickered her gaze to me and then nodded. "The group of vampires Anna and Harper have gone to meet contains one vampire who is a little older than I. By about five or six centuries."

Bonnie nodded, taking it into consideration. I noticed her body relaxed at Pearl's acceptance. "I could do the spell with you and then adjust later. Would that be alright?"

Pearl inclined her head. "That would be fine with me."

"Sounds good," I agreed.

"I'm going to need to do a test run of the original spell first. Sorry," Bonnie apologized and cleared her throat as she looked at the illustration and then at the invention. "Ready?"

"As ready as we're going to be," I said weakly and made sure I was sitting before she activated it. Pearl, Tyler, and I all immediately clutched our heads from the sharp, high pitched noise. It lasted for all of five seconds before it stopped and I still felt a little weak as I lifted my head up.

Bonnie and John were looking at Tyler with concern. "I thought this was only supposed to work on vampires," John mused aloud.

Bonnie nodded slowly, but her eyes were wide with fright. "If it's any consolation, witches aren't affected."

She smiled slyly and I narrowed my eyes in mock anger at her. "Thank you for sharing."

Her smile died as she looked at me and immediately came to stand beside me. She lifted my chin up and turned my head from side to side. "You're bleeding."

"What?" I asked and tried to get up from the couch, but my legs were unmovable.

Even Pearl was curious as she appeared at Bonnie's side to inspect me. "Damon has mentioned that you are very strong for a fledgling. Have you ever tested your strength before?"

I shook my head lightly and then stopped. "If I want to be, I'm stronger than Damon. I don't like to show it very much because he only likes it in certain situations," I said and then realized I should have kept that bit of information to myself.

"You are different from any vampire I have ever met. I have never heard of one having the talents that you do or the ability to retain werewolf blood for as long as you have. If what I know is true, maybe you are the only person we need to get rid of Klaus."

That sparked something in my memory. "Just a thought, but Katherine's blood was mixed with Klaus' when he turned her. If I have the same blood as she does, would my blood work for altering the spell?"

There was a moment of silence before Bonnie shrugged. "I don't know. The only way to test that theory would be when we face him and if we're wrong, it would be too late."

In an instant, Pearl had me off the couch and in a chokehold that had me dangling off of the floor. I clawed at her hands and tried everything I could to throw her off balance to make her let go of me. I didn't need to breathe so the need to be put down wasn't urgent, but the struggle was still similar. I felt something binding in my head and I pushed out mentally. The result was something no one could have seen coming. Pearl had been thrown across the room as if she had been hit by a car and smashed into the wall right next to the fireplace. I dropped to the floor and rubbed my throat out of habit as I looked at her in complete shock. She picked herself up out of the imprint her impact had made in the wall and I could hear her bones repairing themselves. She simply dusted off her sleeves and moved forward with pure satisfaction on her face. "What the hell was that?" John asked as he came to help me to my feet.

I blinked and shook my head. "She was seeing if I was strong enough to break her hold."

Pearl inclined her head. "It seems that you have unlocked yet another ability. You have an extraordinary daughter John. That was the mental push of a telekinetic."

My face froze. "Damon was just joking with me about that the other day," I whispered in a barely audible voice. I groaned as I realized what had happened and leaned on John for support. "I _just_ found out about my psychometry and now I'm a telekinetic too? Is it ever going to end?" The question was a rhetorical one, but John swallowed hard as he tried to think of an answer.

Pearl looked at Bonnie. "You can try every variation possible, but if she is within its range, it will hurt her."

Bonnie sighed and closed her book. "So much for that plan."

Pearl took the invention from the coffee table and then approached me. I knew she had done her attack to test me, but I involuntarily flinched when she approached. "I am going to make sure this is secure and then check on Anna," she said and then disappeared faster than I could keep up with.

I swayed on my feet and John returned me to the couch. "You okay?" he asked before returning to his chair.

"I really want to know why, out of all of Katherine's descendants, that I'm the one who gets _all_ of the magick. And why it's all deciding to show up now," I muttered and put my head in my hands to rub at my temples.

"You have to admit, that mind blast thing is incredible. That could really come in handy," Tyler mused as he looked at me in awe. "I think you should try out the telekinetic thing and see how easy it is."

I lifted my head to see small nods from John and Bonnie as well as the curiosity gleaming in their eyes. "Fine," I mumbled and looked around the room for something I could pick up rather easily. Then I remembered Damon's necklace that was still on the nightstand upstairs. I closed my eyes and concentrated on nothing but the necklace. I held out my hand and waited. In about forty-five seconds, something cold and delicate landed in my palm and I opened my eyes to see the ring on my palm with the chain hanging off to the side. "Wow. That's so weird." I wasn't sure which was more enthralling; the fact that I had retrieved the necklace without leaving the couch or I didn't get any images when I touched the ring.

"Try something else," Bonnie said eagerly.

I concentrated on Stefan's keys there were on the table by the door and I kept my eyes open this time. I figured if this was going to come in handy during a fight, it would be better to not have to close my eyes. Sure enough, they zipped across the room and landed in my hand next to the ring. "Holy shit!" Tyler said as he sat up.

"That is incredible," John said and then Bonnie's phone rang.

"Shit," she muttered as she looked at the caller ID. "Hi Mom," she said and went to the other room. When she returned, she did not look happy. "I forgot I promised them I would be home today for some bonding time."

"I'll take you home," John said and stood up. "Be back soon."

They waved as they left and I tossed the keys onto the coffee table. "What else can you do?" Tyler asked.

"I have no idea, but I'm sure I'll find out as time goes on," I said and studied the ring. I was debating on searching the ring for the past, but was apprehensive about what I would see. I tossed it next to the keys and stretched out on the couch, putting my legs across Tyler's lap. I sighed and scooted down so that I could use the armrest as a pillow. "I'm restless and bored and worried."

"Yeah, well, given the circumstances..." he started and let me fill in the blanks.

"Thank you, that was very reassuring."

He grinned. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to find out where Damon ran off to so I can go after him and kick his ass for not telling me in the first place."

He laughed at that. "I was thinking more like video games or movies."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course. You can play a game if you want. I'll watch."

"You sure?"

I nodded. "If you have somewhere else to be, you can go."

"No, our instructions were to not leave you alone. Besides, the only person I would be hanging out with is Matt and Stefan compelled him to stay away from here until he says otherwise."

"Oh," I said quietly. I had never really asked Stefan what he did to make Matt stay away. "Yes, I'll just watch," I added, answering his earlier question.

"Alright," he said and moved my legs so he could get up and set up his game. I watched him play for maybe a half an hour before I drifted off to sleep due to the mental blast that had taken a toll on my mind.


	19. Chapter 19

NINETEEN

I sat up the moment I heard the engine of Damon's car stop. My sudden alertness had woken Tyler up as well. We were both laying on the couch, curled up on opposite ends. I smiled before jumping off the couch and bursting through the front door to throw myself at Damon. If he hadn't been near the car, we would have stumbled into the ground. Instead, he bounced off the side of the car. I kissed him deeply, happy that he was back and in one piece. I stepped back and he smiled. "Hello to you too."

I reached back and slapped him across the face. Stefan's eyes widened in surprise, but he was laughing on the inside. "You were supposed to call me," I said sternly, placing a hand on my hip.

Damon looked up and rubbed his jaw. His expression was a mix of anger because Stefan had seen it and admiration that I had actually done it before. "We got a little sidetracked."

Stefan laughed lightly and I glared at him. "This isn't funny." I was going to say more, but the eye contact with Stefan allowed me to read his thoughts for a moment. I looked at Damon and took a few steps back from him. "Georgia? You went to Georgia?"

"Elena-" Damon started and moved towards me.

"You went to see Bree," I said flatly. He nodded and I folded my arms across my chest. "Why? This is the same Bree that helped Lexi's boyfriend kidnap me so he could kill you right?"

Stefan's eyes widened and I remembered I hadn't exactly told him what happened while Damon and I were on our little road trip. "What?" he asked, looking at his brother. "You didn't tell me that."

"She apologized."

I narrowed my eyes and looked between the two of them. "What exactly did you go to her for?"

"She is the leader of a very powerful coven and I asked if they would help us. That way Bonnie has some support and she won't burn out as fast."

"Why would she agreed to help after that little stunt she pulled? She obviously hated you for whatever it was that you did to her in the first place."

"She did it because witches hate vampires and to kill an Original would be one of the greatest achievements any coven would love to have on their records. We had to make a deal of course," Damon explained.

"And I did the asking," Stefan added with a smirk on his face.

"What kind of a deal?" I asked wearily, not sure if I really wanted to know the answer or not.

"They get the invention Pearl has that can hurt vampires," Damon said.

"Then it's a good thing Bonnie didn't get to alter the spell," I said and started walking back into the house. "How many witches are coming?"

"Seven, maybe eight," Stefan answered and nodded to Tyler who was still sitting on the couch.

"Did you tell them?" he asked.

"Tell us what?" Damon returned as he hung his jacket on the coat rack.

"We contacted Tyler's uncle up in Maine. He's in charge of a pack there and he agreed to come down and help us," I said and felt a great sense of pride when Damon smiled at me.

His eyes moved past me to the wall by the fireplace and his expression hardened. "What the hell happened?"

I grinned, as did Tyler. "Pearl helped me unlock another ability," I beamed and held out my hand. Damon's necklace floated from the coffee table to my hand and hovered in the air for a second before dropping softly into my palm.

"I knew you were trying to move the damn phone," Damon muttered, but he was smirking. "Anything else happen while I was gone?"

"Elena totally kicked Pearl's ass without lifting a finger," Tyler answered as he gestured to the wall. "She flew across the room and got embedded in the wall. It was incredible. You really should have been here to see it."

Stefan and Damon were gaping at me as if I were a whole different person. "So you really are stronger than I thought," Damon mused.

"That could definitely come in handy," Stefan agreed and moved to sit on the couch with Tyler.

Tyler got up and raked a hand through his hair. He was sweating and as he walked towards the door, his movements were off. "Tyler?" I asked.

I could already see his eyes turning a golden yellow and I knew what was wrong. "I'll be back," he assured us in a somewhat unintelligible voice before he booked it out the door.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked as I moved towards the front porch after a few moments.

"Folding his clothes so when he comes back they'll all be in one place," I answered as I picked up the articles of clothing that had been shed in a line leading to the woods. I laughed as I moved back to the door. "I guess that answers my question of if I needed to go running on all fours with him."

He laughed and when we got inside, Stefan was approaching us. "I need to feed and I'll keep an eye on him just in case."

"Thank you," I said and watched him leave. "Come on," I said to Damon and pulled him upstairs with me.

Once inside, Damon sidestepped my embrace with humor in his eyes. "You're not going to hit me again are you?"

"That depends. Why did you really keep your destination a secret from me?"

"I told you earlier. If it didn't work out, the only people that would know are Stefan and myself. I promise, that was my only reason." I arched my brow and he smirked. "And I knew you wouldn't let me go if you knew who I was asking for help."

I burst into laughter at that. "Since when has anyone ever been able to stop you from doing what you want?"

He narrowed his eyes as he went over what he had just said and in the blink of an eye, had me between himself and the door. "As long as you're the one holding the whip, I'm fine with it," he breathed before he kissed me.

My hands slid up his chest to undo the buttons on his shirt. I slowly pushed it off of his shoulders and let it fall to the ground behind him. I ran my hands over the sleek, hardened muscles and groaned as he dipped his head to kiss my neck. I moved to his belt and took my time in removing it. A shudder rippled through me as he sank his fangs into my neck. I arched my body against his as he took one, long mouthful and then removed his fangs. He reclaimed my lips and I could taste my own blood. It was different from the last time I'd tasted it from him in this way. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was different about it.

His hands tugged at the hem of my shirt, but before he could pull it over my head, I turned him so that he was against the door. He made a noise of surprise as he watched me kiss my way down his chest, keeping his gaze with mine as I did so. I sank to my knees and undid his fly before pulling the remainder of his clothes to the floor. His eyes had darkened a few shades as he watched me take him into his mouth. I closed my eyes as I used my lips, tongue, and fingers to please him. It wasn't long before I tasted the beginnings of his release and just before he came, I stood up and smiled at him.

His eyes were hooded as he pulled off my clothes as fast as he could without simply ripping them off. My wardrobe was getting thinner because of his impatience. I used my speed to get behind him and when he turned around, I pushed him down onto the bed. He moved so that he was laying in the middle of it and I climbed on top of him, straddling his waist with my thighs. I reached down and guided him into me. I licked my lips as I looked down at him, rotating my hips in time with his thrusts. He brought my wrist to his lips and bit down. My read tipped backwards from the feel of being fed upon and his one hand that was kneading one of my breasts.

He released my wrist and I could feel my head binding, but I was determined to hold back for as long as I could. He surged forward so that we were both sitting and I wrapped my legs around his back as he kissed me deeply, his tongue mimicking what was going on below. My nails dug into his shoulders as his raked up and down my back. I broke the kiss to tip my head back, moaning his name in the process. He thrust harder and harder, burying himself completely inside me and throwing me over the edge almost instantly. He stayed where he was and I could feel his release warming my insides as we came together.

When we were done, I fell backwards across his legs, my head hanging off the foot of the bed. He moved so he was laying on top of me. He nuzzled at my neck before moving down towards my breasts. He nipped at my skin and his tongue darted in and out as he made his way down to my stomach. I groaned as his fangs slid into the skin above my navel and I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, it was to see Damon hooking one of my legs over his shoulder before driving into me again. My hands twisted in the sheets as he used his free hand to stimulate my already fast coming release by caressing my clitoris again. My head ground against the edge of the bed as we came together once again. He collapsed on top of me and kissed me sweetly. We lay there for only a few moments before he was ready again; throwing both of us into oblivion countless times over the course of the night.


	20. Chapter 20

**a/n: I never planned on getting twenty chapters which makes it that much better in my book...to answer questions I know are coming, yes, this is indeed the end of this story. However, I have decided to add a fourth installment. Don't worry, I'll update just as quickly once I have the first few chapters ready to go :) Thanks again to all my readers and reviewers for helping me get to this point :)**

TWENTY

By Sunday night, we had nine witches, twenty wolves, fifteen vampires, and two mortals who couldn't die. Needless to say, the living room didn't have nearly enough seating for everyone. It was strange to see the room split into three distinct groups. Pearl was giving instructions to the vampires, Bonnie was informing the witches, and Tyler was taking care of the werewolves. John, Alaric, Damon, and myself were standing apart from the groups and just watched as the plan came together right before our eyes. "You're really going to bring her back?" John asked as he looked at me.

I nodded. "He's only after me because I killed her. If I bring her back, he should just go away." Even as I said that, I didn't believe it. Bonnie waved me over to her side and I joined her with the other witches.

Bree smiled at me in a way that told me it wasn't genuine and she hated being here. "Elena."

I nodded at her and looked at Bonnie. "We're going to bring her back tonight. That way, we have an immediate bargaining chip."

"And the invention?" Bree asked.

"After Klaus leaves," I assured her. Pearl had been reluctant to give it up, especially to witches, but she knew she had no other choice. Had I not demonstrated that I was stronger, her answer would have been different. "Whatever happens, you will not return empty handed."

Everyone pitched in to clear the living room of all furniture and with the amount of people doing so, it only took about two minutes flat. The witches started drawing a large circle in a way that I had never seen before. "What's that?" Tyler asked as he moved to stand next to Damon and I.

"It's a containment circle. Nothing can get out of it once the spell is said until otherwise specified by the witch who did the casting," Damon explained.

I looked at him with narrowed eyes. "For someone who keeps telling me witches and vampires hate each other, you sure do know a lot about them."

His grin was sly as he kissed my forehead. "Trust me, this is not a conversation you want to have right now."

I sighed and rolled my eyes as I continued to watch. The witches spread out among the circle each holding hands as if to protect it. Bonnie approached me with a glass and extended it to me. "I need your blood," she said awkwardly.

"Alaric, do you have the vervain?" the youngest witch, Autumn, asked. She had auburn hair and the sweetest faces I had ever seen. Her eyes were a vivid green that I was sure she wore contacts, yet it didn't seem right. Her skin was a deep olive color and her smile was infectious.

He nodded and stepped forward, gathering his duffel bag from the formal living room. There were two others on that couch as well, each of which was jam packed with nothing but vervain needles. The plan was to keep in injected. John and Alaric had stocked one of the cells in the basement with live vervain at Damon's suggestion. He had glared at Stefan, obviously reliving that memory of when Stefan had done that to him. We had a schedule of three guards outside her door, one of each "group" at all times until tomorrow night. "Would you do the honors?" I asked Damon and held out my arm.

He grinned mischievously as his canines came out from their sheathes and dragged across my skin. I held the glass underneath my wrist once he pulled away and put enough blood to fill the glass halfway before I allowed myself to heal. I handed it back to Bonnie who practically darted across the room to the circle. She set the glass on its side in the center and then took her place on the perimeter and joined hands with Autumn and another witch. There was an empty spot in the circle where Bree had yet to close it. "Let me make myself very clear. No one is to say anything and the path to the basement is to be clear at all times," she said for the fifth time tonight. She met my eyes and nodded. "Get ready."

Damon let go of his hold on me and I stepped up to Bree. I was standing slightly behind the circle as she finished it and took hands with her coven members. My job was to stand close in case something went wrong and I had to kill her. I had a stake in my hand from Alaric's bag and I was poised and ready to go.

An eerie silence filled the room moments before Bree began saying the spell. One by one, the other witches began to recite it along with her. All of their voices combined was truly frightening, but everyone was watching in awe as Katherine's body rose from absolutely nothing, my blood instantly disappearing as it seemingly absorbed into her body. I couldn't help but think about the last time I had witnessed this event and I was still having a hard time believing it was real. Just like last time, she was bare. When the scared, newborn look in her eyes faded as she realized what was happening, her face transformed and she tried to launch herself at everyone. She screamed in frustration as her feet seemed to be super glued to the floor and she couldn't move. Her eyes scanned the room and rested on me; her chest was heaving in frustration. "You," she seethed and snarled as she tried to go after me.

The witches dropped their hands all at the same time, signaling the spell was complete, but Katherine was still rooted in her spot on the floor. I smirked, reveling in the feeling of her being helpless as I approached, swapping the stake for a vervain needle. "I win," I breathed as I injected it into her skin.

She cried out and crumpled to the ground. I thought about catching her, but in the end, decided against it. Pearl and Anna stepped forward with the clothes that we had brought to clothe her and then Bree began the releasing spell so we could bring her to the basement. She was conscious, but the vervain in her blood-starved system was causing her immense pain. I felt like a sadist as I watched her from outside the cell before I closed the door. She lifted her head to snarl at me and I simply shut the door on her. I shook off the effects of being that close to that amount of vervain and headed upstairs after the others. "That was awesome," Bonnie said as she looked around at everyone.

I couldn't help but smile because I knew how she felt about finding others like her. It allowed for a great sense of pride to know you weren't alone. "Now what?" Darren asked.

"We will clean up the circle, but the focus should be on making sure Katherine stays down in her cell," Bree said and the first three people went downstairs to take their post. Stefan, Damon, Pearl, Anna, and I had been excluded from babysitting because of obvious reasons.

"And now we wait," I said and everyone was silent for a moment.

* * *

All the next day, the gloom of what was to come seemed to have settled over everyone. Damon and I had remained upstairs, afraid to leave each other alone. More so on my part then on his. When the sun was no longer up in the sky, we made our way downstairs to join the others and I went to the basement with Bree, Autumn, Damon, Alaric, and Darren. Darren bound Katherine's wrist with rope laced with vervain so that if she tried to move, it would weaken her further. He had tied it so hard, there was blood trickling from her wrists already. He did the same to her ankles, but left enough slack in the ropes so she could walk. She was groggy from the injections, but once she was out of the basement, she was a little more aware of her surroundings because she was away from the plants. "Don't try anything," I warned her as I put a gag in her mouth.

She glared at me, her brown eyes spitting rays of hate. It made me smile. _He still wants me_ she thought in my direction and I had to step back from her in shock. I was unaware that she knew about my ability. Her eyes flickered to Damon and she smirked despite the gag. My fangs came out, a wave of possession washed over me, and I slapped her, drawing blood from her nose. Damon pulled me back by my shoulders and stepped in between us. My face softened and went back to normal as I looked at him. "What was that?" he asked, aware everyone was watching. "Not that I care."

"She's just a bitch, that's all," I said and kissed him briefly before smirking in her direction.

"Where are we going?" John asked. "Did he ever tell you where?"

I shook my head, "No, but wherever we end up, he'll follow." I hadn't been sure of that thought until I voiced it. "Let's go."

Damon was the one to shove Katherine out the door and into one of the cars parked in front of the house. He put her in the back of his car and sat beside her, vervain needle poised and ready to go at her side if she tried anything. Alaric got in on the other side of her with another needle. John got behind the wall and I slipped into the passenger seat. The coven and Bonnie were split between two SUV's and the wolves changed and ran through the woods after we gave them directions. The other vampires just simply used their speed to get to the ruined church. Everyone was supposed to remain unseen until we knew what Klaus' reaction to Katherine would be. We drove slower than Bree so they would have time to set up before we arrived.

About a half an hour from leaving the house, everyone was in position. Everyone was scattered in the trees, armed with whatever weapon they needed. The only ones out in the open were Katherine, Damon, John, Alaric, and myself. Katherine was standing in front of us, John and Alaric behind her with stakes and needles pointed at her. Just when I thought we were all absolutely paranoid, the air shifted and Klaus appeared with Roarke at his side. They were standing about a yard or so away from us. _Roarke is standing two feet behind Klaus on my left side_ I communicated to Bonnie.

_I can see him_, she returned and I felt better knowing we had a chance of at least taking him down.

Klaus was looking at Katherine with an unreadable expression on his face. "Get back," I muttered to John, Alaric, and Damon. They stepped behind me, releasing their hold on Katherine. She swayed, but she was able to stand on her own. "I have a counter offer," I said loud enough for Klaus to hear me.

He inclined his head. "I see that. Well done."

"You wanted Katherine back, so here she is. On one condition."

His eyes sparkled with amusement. "And what is that?"

"That you leave us alone. All of us," I said, knowing he could tell there were others waiting to strike at him.

I could see Roarke become irritated as he looked at Katherine and he kept shifting his weight. _I have him_ Bonnie announced.

Klaus extended his arm and I removed Katherine's gag before shoving her forward. She went to him, enthralled by his presence. He removed the rope at her wrists and looked at her adoringly. "Do we have a deal?" I asked as I watched him run his hands over her as if in disbelief. His hands rested on her neck and my blood turned icy. Something was wrong. _NOW!_ I shouted to Bonnie and watched in horror as Klaus twisted Katherine's head and severed it from her body as if she were made of clay.

I had seen a lot of horrible things, but that sight made my stomach lurch. Especially when her body fell to the ground and he tossed her head down. His eyes met mine and his smile was cruel. "She is not as special as you are."

My stomach churned at the greedy look in his eyes and I stepped back. "No."

Roarke's scream filled the air and though not everyone could see him, they definitely heard him. Blood poured out of sores that now covered his body and he landed on his back, twitching erratically until he stopped as suddenly as he had started. His death didn't seem to phase Klaus and in the blink of an eye, the clearing was filled with everyone who had come to fight. I felt sick to my stomach. _How could I have been so stupid?_ I asked myself over and over again as wolves and vampires started launching themselves at him.

"Elena, come on!" he hissed as he pulled me away so we could get out of everyone's way.

"Of course he doesn't want Katherine. He knows what I can do Damon. He wants me because I'm...I'm... Why didn't I see that before?" I asked through tears of frustration.

He turned my chin to watch as the large mob of supernatural beings had surrounded Klaus and appeared to be winning. "It's over."

There was the sound of a twig snapping behind us and I screamed at the sight of Klaus. He had blood on him, but if there were any wounds, they had already healed. I stepped in front of Damon and started moving backwards. "You should have just agreed to my terms," he said and faster than I could keep up with, he was behind me. I whirled around to see him holding Damon so tightly Damon couldn't even move.

"No," I breathed, tears streaming down my face. "Let him go."

"Katherine is not the only one that liked to play games," he said with a cruel smile. "I will give you a year to come find your king. If you do, I will leave you both alone for the rest of eternity. Fail and he will die and you will become my queen." My eyes locked onto Damon's and I tried to reach for him, but Klaus moved.

And just like that, they were gone.


End file.
